The police searched the homes of so-called Reich citizens in several federal states and arrested suspects. The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that a suspect arrested in Wolfratshausen, Bavaria, had agreed to take part in the planned kidnapping of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and to obtain firearms in Croatia for this purpose.
In Rhineland-Palatinate according to the Koblenz Public Prosecutor’s Office a 52-year-old from the Trier-Saarburg district and a 32-year-old woman from the Bad Dürkheim district were arrested. The man is said to have scouted out high-voltage lines for the group, which presumably wanted to cause widespread power outages to bring about the overthrow. The woman is said to have operated chat groups in which the accused exchanged information – and to have written instructions on how to make explosives.
Another suspect is said to have instructed members of the group how to operate radios at a meeting. The investigators also accuse him of using chat groups to call for participation in association meetings.
According to SZ information, a 49-year-old from the Mettmann district in North Rhine-Westphalia and a 61-year-old in the Bergstrasse district in Hesse were also arrested. There were also searches in Hanau in Hesse and in Eisenach in Thuringia as well as in Baden-Württemberg.
Other members of the alleged terrorist group “United Patriots”, which is said to have planned a coup, are already on trial in Koblenz. Federal prosecutors there are accusing four men and one woman of high treason because they wanted to overthrow the government and kidnap the health minister. The people affected by the raids on Tuesday are suspected to be other members and supporters of the group. Some of them are also accused of preparing high treason.
Investigators are convinced that the “United Patriots” are supporters of the “Reichsbürger” ideology. “Reich citizens” do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany as a state. They untruthfully declare that the historic German Empire continues to exist to this day. The supporters negate today’s democratic and constitutional structures such as parliament, laws or courts. They don’t want to pay taxes, social security contributions or fines.