What is known about the coup plans of the “Reich Citizens”.


IWithin four months there have now been two nationwide raids against a group from the “Reichsbürger” milieu who are said to have planned a putsch in Germany. Several suspects were arrested and a large amount of evidence was confiscated. An overview.

What happened on Wednesday?

On Wednesday morning there was another nationwide raid in the “Reichsbürger” milieu. It was directed against five suspects from Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Switzerland on suspicion of supporting a terrorist organization, said a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe on request.

In addition, the premises of 14 other people who are not considered suspicious were searched. During one of these searches in Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, an officer of a special task force was slightly injured by a shot. The suspect has been arrested for the time being and is being investigated for attempted homicide, according to a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe.

In total, the Attorney General had 20 objects searched during the raid, said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) on Twitter.

How are the new searches related to the first raid?

At the beginning of December there was a large-scale anti-terror raid against “Reich citizens” in several federal states, Austria and Italy. At that time, 25 men and women were arrested. In this process, the federal prosecutor’s office also investigated 30 other people.

The new searches are related to this. As the German Press Agency learned, signed non-disclosure agreements discovered during the first raid were an important starting point for the operation on Wednesday. According to the security authorities, several gun owners were among the signatories.

What was found in the raid?

It was unanimously reported that more than 90 weapons had been found in the “Reichsbürger” group. Among them were 25 so-called long guns, i.e. rifles, but not semi-automatic weapons, but hunting rifles. In addition, handguns were found, as were knives, daggers and crossbows. In some cases, the Federal Criminal Police Office is still checking whether the relevant weapon license was issued. The authorities also assume that there are other weapons caches. In addition, precious metals and cash were confiscated. It is not yet known what was found in the second raid.

What are the accused accused of?

The 55 accused are suspected of forming a terrorist organization. Their plan was to overthrow the German federal government with the “use of military means and force” and to seize power through the putsch.

According to information from the FAZ, 24 of the accused are in custody. Most recently there were 25, but the Mainz tenor René R., who was arrested in the course of the Reichsbürger raid in December, was released from custody last week. This was confirmed by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the FAZ on Wednesday. The former Mainz court singer is still suspected of membership in a terrorist organization. However, the maintenance of pre-trial detention was considered disproportionate. There was therefore no longer any reason for detention. René is said to have previously taken part in corona demonstrations in Baden as “Pforzheimer Caruso”. In the arrested “Reichsbürger” group, he was apparently intended as Minister of Education for the period after a coup d’etat.

What do you know about the members of the group?

A total of 90 people are believed to have been involved in the coup plans, although many of them have not yet been investigated. Among the conspirators are people of very different backgrounds and professions, they have close connections. It is noticeable that well-known members are older than 50, 60 or even 70, many were active in the “lateral thinker” scene of the opponents of vaccination. The 71-year-old Heinrich XIII received special attention. Found Prince Reuss, who was intended to be head of state after the coup.



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