German authorities on Wednesday arrested 25 members or supporters of a far-right domestic terrorist group known as the “Reichsbürger” movement who were allegedly involved in a plot to overthrow the government and install a “prince” with ties to the former royal family German.
The Reichsbürger group denies the existence of the modern German government, and factions of the group were banned in 2020 as Berlin sought to crack down on right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism.
The suspects arrested on Wednesday belonged to a splinter group founded in November 2021 inspired by QAnon conspiracy theories and a belief that the “German Reich” still existed despite the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, according to Reuters.
Police officers secure a searched property in Frankfurt, Germany, December 7, 2022, during a raid on so-called ‘citizens of the Reich’.
(Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
GERMAN POLICE SEARCH HOUSES, QUESTION SUSPECTS IN ANNUAL CROSS ON ONLINE HATE SPEECH
German officials said a nationwide raid was carried out Wednesday morning and the suspects were arrested for their alleged involvement in a plan to overthrow the government by force, German news DW reported.
“A large counter-terrorism operation has been underway since this morning. The Federal Attorney General is investigating a suspected terrorist network from the scene of the Reichsbürger,” German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said in a statement on Twitter. “There is a suspicion that an armed attack on the constitutional bodies was planned.”
The raid reportedly targeted 130 properties belonging to 52 suspects in 11 German states.
Of the 25 arrested, 24 were German and one was Russian. Another 27 suspects remain at large, according to reports.
During a raid in Frankurt, Germany against so-called ‘citizens of the Reich’, a hooded police officer sits in a police vehicle with Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss arrested, right, after searching a house, December 7, 2022.
(Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
GERMAN PROSECUTORS SEEK FORMER NAZI CAMP SECRETARY’S SENTATION AS A CONDITION OF MURDER
The plot reportedly intended to install a member of a German noble family with ties to the royal house of Reuss, identified by prosecutors as Heinrich XIII PR, who used the title “Prince” and sat as ringleader of the group.
According to DW, prosecutors said the group had made contact with Russian officials who allegedly supported Berlin’s overthrow, although no details about the officials were provided and the Russian embassy in Berlin denied any links to the Reichsbürger group.
An active-duty soldier with the Bundeswehr’s special forces command, as well as several Bundeswehr reservists, were among the suspects whose barracks were raided by officials on Wednesday.
The raids were reportedly triggered by an investigation into another Reichsbürger group that had plotted to kidnap German health minister Karl Lauterbach, DW said.
On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, the federal prosecutor’s office had several people from the so-called Reich Citizenship scene arrested in the course of a raid.
(Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the case revealed the continuing threat posed by the Reichsbürger group.
“The investigations provide a glimpse into the abyss of a terrorist threat from the scene of the Reichsbürger,” it said in a statement. “We know how to defend ourselves with all our strength against the enemies of democracy”.
