According to Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), the number of so-called Reich citizens in Bavaria has reached a “sad high”. Last year, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution attributed 4,605 followers to the scene; 450 are considered “hard core”. The number of crimes has also increased, from 243 to 425.
This is shown by the report for the protection of the constitution for 2021, which the minister presented on Monday. The Corona protests and their “partial hostility to the state” were therefore “an ideal starting point” for Reich citizens: “Both in virtual and real space, the scene has succeeded in winning supporters of the Corona protests.”
Citizens of the Reich deny the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany, in their “crude theory,” according to Herrmann, they see government officials and politicians as “vicarious agents” of a conspiracy – and are becoming increasingly aggressive. The phenomenon also includes “self-administrators” who define their own property as sovereign territory with their own law.
The main crimes are extortion, threats and coercion, often against officials. “We are continuing to drive the disarmament of the scene,” said the minister. Since the murder of a police officer by a Reich citizen in Georgensgmünd in 2016, the authorities have been taking massive action against the scene. Since then, gun licenses have been revoked in a total of 460 cases.
According to the minister, the general influence of extremists on the Corona protests in Bavaria was less than feared: “Only in 207 of around 3,000 protests against state pandemic measures did the constitutional protection officers identify people with extremist connections. And: the majority of the protest movements are peaceful get lost.” However, it is alarming when riots occur using the fundamental right of freedom of assembly.
The debate about compulsory vaccination in particular has reduced inhibitions. “Last year, hate and hate speech reached an unprecedented level – online, on the street and even in private life,” said Herrmann. “Although the discussions about the pandemic are currently slacking off, the scene may be looking for new topics.”
Right-wing extremists are looking for a connection to the bourgeois spectrum
The right-wing extremist milieu also tried to use the Corona protests for their own purposes and often use “targeted cover-up tactics” to connect with the middle-class spectrum. However, that was largely unsuccessful, despite the presence of neo-Nazis at demos, for example.
Although the number of right-wing extremist crimes has fallen to 1,750 (previous year: 2,455), the minister does not expect the trend to reverse. The potential of the scene in Bavaria is 2700 right-wing extremists. From the AfD, their party offspring “Junge Alternative” is listed with 100 people. In the case of the ethnic “wing”, actually observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the report no longer mentions a number – with reference to the official dissolution of the inner-party current. No “follow-up activities” have become known in 2021.
The minister is concerned about the violent nature of the left-wing extremist scene. The latter discovered the critical infrastructure in particular as a target, and acts of sabotage showed ever greater unscrupulousness. Attempts are currently being made to radicalize social protests about climate protection – with the demand “to bring down the capitalist system”. Activities are expected for the G7 summit in Elmau in June – with the tactic of “gaining influence in the shadow of bourgeois protests”.
Herrmann also warned against losing sight of Islamism. This scene is still trying to show its presence, even with lone perpetrator attacks anywhere, “almost out of nowhere”. Worth mentioning is the knife attack by a Syrian in an ICE train near Regensburg in November, the motive for which later turned out to be Islamist. In view of the Ukraine war, Herrmann also warned against cyber attacks on Bavarian authorities and companies as well as false reports controlled from Russia. The capacities have been increased in this regard.