extremism
Long prison sentence for defendant in “Reichsbürger” trial
An ambulance in action (symbolic image). photo
© Patrick Seeger/dpa
When police officers wanted to search an apartment in Boxberg, Baden, in April 2022, they were caught in a hail of bullets that lasted for hours. Now it is clear: A 55-year-old will have to spend many years in prison because of this.
For shooting at a special operations team in Baden Boxberg, a man was sentenced to 14 years and six months in prison for attempted murder in several cases. This was decided by the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court. The 55-year-old alleged “Reich citizen” shot at police officers with an automatic rifle in the community of Boxberg in the Main-Tauber district in April last year.
The emergency services wanted to search the man’s house for a weapon for which he did not have a permit. In the house, investigators found a walk-in weapons cache with rifles and submachine guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition and accessories.
“Regular hunt for police officers”
During the operation, one of the officers was seriously injured by shots in the legs. In its plea, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office accused the German of having “literally hunted down police officers” and demanded a life sentence for attempted murder in several cases.
The man’s two lawyers clearly contradicted this. They argued that there were no murder criteria and therefore demanded an acquittal for their client. In his final word he apologized for his behavior. “I’m so sorry for what happened,” he said. He “acted in panic and to protect my son.”
The man is assigned to the so-called “Reichsbürger” scene. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the man viewed his property and apartment “as an independent area, at least not subject to the legal system of the Federal Republic of Germany” and secured it accordingly. The defense lawyers, on the other hand, argued that the man had used “Reich citizen language” but had not understood the ideology at all.
“Reich citizens” and so-called self-administrators do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany as a state. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimates that the scene has around 23,000 followers – and the trend is rising.