Raid against right-wing extremists in eleven federal states

Around 800 police officers are searching 61 objects nationwide. Among the accused right-wing extremists is a non-commissioned officer of the Bundeswehr.

Around 800 police officers were involved in the raid (symbol image).

Martin Dziadek / Imago

suk. With a large-scale action, the security authorities in eleven German federal states took action against suspected right-wing extremists. Four people were arrested said a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe on Wednesday (April 6). The local focus of the investigations was in Thuringia. There are 46 suspects in total. According to the news magazine Der Spiegel, one of the suspects is an active soldier in the Bundeswehr with the rank of non-commissioned officer. Around 800 officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office and the police were involved in the searches. The spokesman said that 61 objects had been searched.

The investigations are directed against the supporters of a branched neo-Nazi network. Those arrested are charged with membership in a right-wing extremist criminal organization and other offenses such as physical harm and breach of the peace. Another part is accused of continuing to run a neo-Nazi association despite an official ban.

Federal prosecutors have accused three of those arrested of having management positions in the neo-Nazi group “Knockout 51” in Eisenach, Thuringia. This group is a right-wing extremist martial arts group that “under the guise of joint physical training attracts young, nationalist-minded men, deliberately indoctrinates them with right-wing extremist ideas and trains them for street fights,” writes the federal prosecutor. The association is particularly active in Thuringia, but is also networked in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg.

Right-wing extremists wanted to bring the entire district under their control

The members of “Knockout 51” are said to have primarily attacked people from the “left spectrum”, some with stabbing weapons. In Eisenach, the group tried to create a so-called “Nazi neighborhood” and present itself there as a regulatory force. Since the spring of 2021, the members have been working in the “Kiezstreifen” area. There were several attacks on the left camp. Several people were injured, some seriously.

The action by the security authorities is also directed against suspected members of the “Atomic Weapons Division” (AWD) and an ideologically related subgroup. The right-wing terrorist neo-Nazi network has its origins in the USA and was founded in 2015 mainly by young internet-savvy right-wing extremists. According to the findings of the security authorities, an “AWD” branch was established in Germany in 2018. Leaflets from the neo-Nazi cell appeared at universities in Berlin and Frankfurt in 2019. This was intended to attract young German men to the «AWD». In addition, the association used the Internet to promote and disseminate its racist and violent propaganda, the federal prosecutor said. 21 other suspects are accused of belonging to the banned right-wing extremist association “Combat 18 Germany” and of continuing to operate it actively.

source site-111