According to the police, the so-called Reichsbürger armed group planned not only to stage a coup, but also to storm the Bundestag. Thousands of police officers participated in the police operation that foiled the plans, German media reported on one of the largest counter-terrorist operations in German history.
But the Reichsbürger’s network turns out to be several times larger, says correspondent Derk Marseille. “It would be a group of several hundred people who wanted to carry out organized attacks throughout the country. Many more weapons have also been captured than previously announced. There would also have been an arms dealer who could have legally bought weapons.’
Among those arrested is Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a member of the AfD Bundestag until last year and a judge in Berlin since then. That party, Alternative für Deutschland, calls those arrested “a bunch of confused old people” and the police action is said to be a “PR stunt” by the German judiciary. This opinion is shared by the former head of the German security service, Hans-Georg Maaßen. “However, this view is by no means shared in parliament and not everyone agrees with it within the AfD,” says Marseille.
Kill the mayors
The facts that have emerged indicate that this is a large and serious group of people, says Marseille. “It’s not about those fifty people from last week, including judges, doctors, officers and policemen. But hundreds of statements have been found from people who have sworn eternal loyalty to this company. Add to that the discovery of hundreds of weapons and you know this is a serious group.”
The plans were very concrete, says Marseille. “As one of the first actions, this group wanted to kill mayors all over Germany. So you can conclude that characterizations like the AfD’s serve their own political agenda. And the fact that the former head of the security service Maaßen says so also indicates that there are still right-wing extremist elements within the army, the police and the security services”.
More network
There is also a fear that there are more similar Reichsbürger movements in Germany. “Germany has an expert investigative service on both left and right extremists in the country. But the fact that it was now so advanced and with such concrete plans indicates that there may be more such networks.’