AMERIKANS MAKE IT ALL ABOUT THEM
QAnon-inspired group accused of plotting violent German coupStory by Anna Noryskiewicz •
Germany arrests dozens as group accused of plotting to overthrow governmentDuration 1:20
Berlin — Police have arrested at least 25 people tied to an alleged right-wing extremist plot to overthrow Germany's government. The group targeted in about 130 raids across Germany was described by prosecutors as being influenced by QAnon conspiracy theories and espousing a doctrine similar to that of far-right groups in the U.S. and across Europe.
Germany's Federal Prosecutor General is now investigating the suspected right-wing terror group, which calls itself Reichsbürger, for allegedly planning an attack on the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, as part of a violent coup to overthrow the government.
The investigators' trail leads to a member of a former Germany royal family as the purported figurehead, a former parliamentarian from the far-right AfD political party, and of particularly concern to the investigators, to former members of the German military's special forces.
Masked police officers escort Heinrich Reuss, also known as Prince Heinrich XIII, after his arrest and a raid of his home in Frankfurt, Germany, December 7, 2022. The Federal Prosecutor's Office has conducted raids targeting a terror group known as Reichsburger, which Reuss is accused of heading, for an alleged plot to overthrow the Germany government. / Credit: Boris Roessler/picture alliance/Getty© Provided by CBS News
Current members of Germany's special security services struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning, in what was a potentially dangerous series of raids.
Forces stormed apartments across the country, executing 25 arrest warrants and launching extensive searches.
While only 25 people were detained, the Federal Prosecutor's Office has accused around 50 men and women of forming a terrorist organization with the intent of eliminating the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany and establishing a new state modeled on the German Reich of 1871.
The group stands accused of planning to storm the Reichstag, or parliament building, as part of a wave of attacks aimed at precipitating civil war-like conditions in Germany. It also allegedly planned to attack the national power grid and to depose the federal government and take power by force.
The prosecutor's office said the group had already selected members to fill important ministerial posts in the new regime, from the moment of the "takeover."
A police officer works during a raid in Berlin, Germany, December 7, 2022. Twenty-five suspects were arrested after coordinated raids in 11 federal states, including Thuringia, Hesse and Lower Saxony, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
/ Credit: Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency/Getty© Provided by CBS News
Investigators have described the operation against the group as unprecedented in Germany: "Beyond all dimensions in terms of scope."
Because a significant number of the group's alleged members are former soldiers of the Germany armed forces, including special forces, it has been treated as a particularly dangerous organization. Investigators had indications before the raids that the suspects were armed with a variety of weapons, some of which were legally owned.
Given the security concerns, in addition to task forces from the Federal Police's antiterrorism unit GSG 9, officers from several special forces (SEK) of the German states were also deployed to carry out the arrests and ensure security during searches. A total of about 3,000 security forces carried out the raids.
The central figure of the group is Heinrich Reuss, who calls himself Prince Heinrich XIII. He's the scion of a long-established but minor German royal household from what is now Thuringia, in eastern Germany. The 71-year-old has publicly advocated his "Reichsbürger" theses for several years, which suggests the modern German state is illegitimate and that the old royal lineage from the 19th century must be restored to power.
During a raid against the so-called© Provided by CBS News
In 2019, for example, he declared at a forum in Switzerland that the Federal Republic was not a sovereign state, but still controlled by the Western allies from World War II. In another video still circulating online, he refers to the German state and the country's judiciary branch as "companies."
Reuss was earmarked by the Reichsbürger terror group targeted in Wednesday's raids to become the new state regent after its takeover of the country, investigators said. Reuss works as an independent financial adviser in Frankfurt and owns a hunting lodge in Thuringia. Members of the group are reported to have met at the lodge several times over the course of this year.
A kind of "shadow cabinet" is said to have been formed, with Reuss at the helm.
Particularly explosive was the allegation that the group intended to install as the head of a new national justice department the former AfD member of the Bundestag, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. She has worked as a judge in Berlin since leaving the Bundestag last year. Previous attempts by the Berlin regional senate to have her removed as a judge, due to anti-democratic and other political statements she has made from the bench, have failed.
One of the leading suspects swept up in the raids was Rüdiger von P., who commanded a German paratrooper battalion in the early 1990s until it was absorbed into the then-newly-founded national commando special forces (KSK). He was dismissed from the Bundeswehr at the time after being found to have stolen weapons from the military's stocks.
Some suspected members of the group had already made public appearances as agitators at recent protests against Germany's anti-coronavirus measures. For example, a former military colonel and member of the special forces named by prosecutors as Maximilian E. publicly advocated at one protest to send Germany's special forces to "clean up the mess" in the national government.
Due to the large number of suspects and the large number of arrest warrants executed on Wednesday, the raids will pose a considerable logistical challenge for the judiciary and law enforcement authorities involved. All those arrested must now be brought before an investigating judge by the end of the following day, Thursday, under German law. It will be up to those judges to decide whether the individuals can be held in pre-trial detention.
Investigators have described the operation against the group as unprecedented in Germany: "Beyond all dimensions in terms of scope."
Because a significant number of the group's alleged members are former soldiers of the Germany armed forces, including special forces, it has been treated as a particularly dangerous organization. Investigators had indications before the raids that the suspects were armed with a variety of weapons, some of which were legally owned.
Given the security concerns, in addition to task forces from the Federal Police's antiterrorism unit GSG 9, officers from several special forces (SEK) of the German states were also deployed to carry out the arrests and ensure security during searches. A total of about 3,000 security forces carried out the raids.
The central figure of the group is Heinrich Reuss, who calls himself Prince Heinrich XIII. He's the scion of a long-established but minor German royal household from what is now Thuringia, in eastern Germany. The 71-year-old has publicly advocated his "Reichsbürger" theses for several years, which suggests the modern German state is illegitimate and that the old royal lineage from the 19th century must be restored to power.
During a raid against the so-called© Provided by CBS News
In 2019, for example, he declared at a forum in Switzerland that the Federal Republic was not a sovereign state, but still controlled by the Western allies from World War II. In another video still circulating online, he refers to the German state and the country's judiciary branch as "companies."
Reuss was earmarked by the Reichsbürger terror group targeted in Wednesday's raids to become the new state regent after its takeover of the country, investigators said. Reuss works as an independent financial adviser in Frankfurt and owns a hunting lodge in Thuringia. Members of the group are reported to have met at the lodge several times over the course of this year.
A kind of "shadow cabinet" is said to have been formed, with Reuss at the helm.
Particularly explosive was the allegation that the group intended to install as the head of a new national justice department the former AfD member of the Bundestag, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. She has worked as a judge in Berlin since leaving the Bundestag last year. Previous attempts by the Berlin regional senate to have her removed as a judge, due to anti-democratic and other political statements she has made from the bench, have failed.
One of the leading suspects swept up in the raids was Rüdiger von P., who commanded a German paratrooper battalion in the early 1990s until it was absorbed into the then-newly-founded national commando special forces (KSK). He was dismissed from the Bundeswehr at the time after being found to have stolen weapons from the military's stocks.
Some suspected members of the group had already made public appearances as agitators at recent protests against Germany's anti-coronavirus measures. For example, a former military colonel and member of the special forces named by prosecutors as Maximilian E. publicly advocated at one protest to send Germany's special forces to "clean up the mess" in the national government.
Due to the large number of suspects and the large number of arrest warrants executed on Wednesday, the raids will pose a considerable logistical challenge for the judiciary and law enforcement authorities involved. All those arrested must now be brought before an investigating judge by the end of the following day, Thursday, under German law. It will be up to those judges to decide whether the individuals can be held in pre-trial detention.
Germany foils bizarre coup plot by far-right group
Story by AFP • Yesterday
A prince, an ex-MP and former soldiers were arrested Wednesday in raids led by the German police against members of a far-right "terror group" that allegedly planned to attack parliament and overthrow the government.
German police staged nationwide raids and arrested 25 people suspected of belonging to a far-right 'terror cell'© Fricke
Germany busts far-right cell plotting to 'overthrow state'© Provided by AFP
The group had organised a "council" to take charge after the putsch, as well as a "military arm that would build a new German army", chief federal prosecutor Peter Frank told journalists.
"Some members of the terrorist organisation also considered using force to enter the German Bundestag (parliament)," Frank said.
He later told the ARD broadcaster that the group's preparations were "already at an advanced stage", though no concrete date had been set.
"We are sure that it would have come to a strike," he said.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told public radio MDR he was "deeply concerned" by the alleged plot, describing it as a "new level".
Around 3,000 officers including elite anti-terror units took part in the early morning raids searching more than 130 properties, in what German media described as one of the country's largest-ever police actions against extremists.
The raids targeted alleged members of the "Citizens of the Reich" (Reichsbuerger) movement, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Prosecutors in Karlsruhe, southern Germany, said they had arrested 25 people, including one in Austria and another in Italy, and identified a further 27 people as suspected members or supporters of the network.
Germany considers far-right terrorism the biggest threat to its security following a spate of attacks in recent years© Tobias SCHWARZ
- Prince and politician -
Those arrested are accused of having formed a group that "had set itself the goal of overcoming the existing state order in Germany and replacing it with their own kind of state", they said.
"The accused are united by a deep rejection of state institutions and the free, democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany," they said.
The suspects were aware that their plan "could only be realised by using military means and violence against state representatives", prosecutors said.
They allegedly planned to appoint one of the arrested suspects, identified by local media as aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, as Germany's new leader after the coup.
Heinrich XIII had already sought to make contact with Russian officials to discuss Germany's "new state order" after the coup, prosecutors said.
There was however "no indication that the contact persons responded positively to his request", they said.
A Russian woman named only as Vitalia B., who was among those arrested on Wednesday, is suspected of having facilitated those contacts, prosecutors added.
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former member of parliament for the far-right AfD party and Berlin judge, was also arrested.
The ex-MP had been tapped by the group to take over as justice minister after the planned coup, chief prosecutor Frank said.
- 'Into the abyss' -
Other suspected members include current and former members of the German army in the "low single digits", a spokesman for the defence ministry said at a regular press conference.
One of those arrested was an active soldier in the KSK special forces, who worked in a "support" role, the spokesman said.
"A former officer of the special units of the German army" was likewise held near Perugia, Italy, the local police said in a statement.
The Reichsbuerger movement includes far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.
Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy and several groups have declared their own states.
Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, the Reichsbuerger have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.
The investigation gave "a look into the abyss" of far-right terror from the movement, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, the terror cell suspects believe in Reichsbuerger and QAnon conspiracy theories and are "strongly convinced" that Germany is run by a "deep state" that needs to be toppled.
As part of the preparations for the coup, members of the alleged terror cell acquired weapons, organised shooting practice and tried to recruit new followers, particularly among the military and police, according to prosecutors.
Germany considers far-right terrorism the biggest threat to its security following a spate of attacks in recent years.
In April, police foiled a plot by a far-right group to kidnap the health minister.
Far-right prince at centre of German coup plot
By AFP
Published December 8, 2022
A German prince was arrested, along with other alleged plotters, in a massive operation by German security forces Wednesday - Copyright AFP/File Ed JONES
Sam REEVES
A German prince, known for his desire to revive the country’s monarchy and rejected by his own family as a “mad old man”, has emerged as a central figure in an alleged coup plot.
Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, descendant of a noble family with a history dating back over eight centuries, was supposed to be installed as Germany’s new leader if the bizarre plan had succeeded, officials say.
But he was arrested, along with other alleged plotters including a right-wing ex-MP and former soldiers, in a massive nationwide operation by thousands of German security forces Wednesday.
The group are alleged members of the “Citizens of the Reich” (“Reichsbuerger”), an ideological movement grouping far-right extremists and conspiracy enthusiasts.
The suspected seditionists are said to have planned to storm parliament and had sketched out details of their new government.
Heinrich XIII, a real estate businessman, was arrested at his residence in Frankfurt and led out by police wearing masks.
At the same time, his castle in Bad Lobenstein in the eastern region of Thuringia — where his aristocratic family had once ruled over a swathe of land — was also searched.
It was at this grand residence where the prince allegedly plotted with others to overthrow the government.
The 71-year-old had made little attempt to hide his extreme views, which chimed with the “Reichsbuerger” movement’s belief in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy.
In a rambling speech to a conference in Zurich in 2019, he lamented the abdication of the German emperor in 1918, and insisted the modern-day German republic was illegitimate.
He referred to the “so-called Federal Republic of Germany” and said the country was “being controlled based on administrative structures installed by the Allies after World War II”, who had also written the constitution.
– ‘Black sheep’ –
Other descendants of the noble family have starkly different views however, and have long been trying to distance themselves from him.
The prince is “unfortunately a mad old man,” the family’s current head, Prince Heinrich XIV Reuss, told AFP, adding they had cut ties with him 14 years earlier.
“There is no contact with this black sheep of the family.”
The head of the house, who is based in Austria, said he was “very shocked” to hear of his relative’s alleged involvement in the plan to overthrow the government.
“It is very bad for the family’s reputation, no question,” he added.
On Thursday, federal police chief Holger Muench said the far-right group behind the plan was heavily armed and posed a real threat.
Those arrested included “a dangerous mix of people with irrational convictions, some with a lot of money and others in possession of weapons”, he told the ARD broadcaster.
Weapons including crossbows, rifles and ammunitions were uncovered during Wednesday’s raids, he said. Twenty-five were arrested in the raids while more are under investigation for their links to the group.
Still, views differed as to how serious the plot really was.
A comment piece in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily warned it would be naive to dismiss the group as “loonies”.
It noted the plotters included “teachers, doctors, business people… They are people who should actually be pillars of democracy”.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily, however, cautioned against “getting too carried away”, as nothing suggested the plot would have succeeded.
Story by AFP • Yesterday
A prince, an ex-MP and former soldiers were arrested Wednesday in raids led by the German police against members of a far-right "terror group" that allegedly planned to attack parliament and overthrow the government.
German police staged nationwide raids and arrested 25 people suspected of belonging to a far-right 'terror cell'© Fricke
Germany busts far-right cell plotting to 'overthrow state'© Provided by AFP
The group had organised a "council" to take charge after the putsch, as well as a "military arm that would build a new German army", chief federal prosecutor Peter Frank told journalists.
"Some members of the terrorist organisation also considered using force to enter the German Bundestag (parliament)," Frank said.
He later told the ARD broadcaster that the group's preparations were "already at an advanced stage", though no concrete date had been set.
"We are sure that it would have come to a strike," he said.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told public radio MDR he was "deeply concerned" by the alleged plot, describing it as a "new level".
Around 3,000 officers including elite anti-terror units took part in the early morning raids searching more than 130 properties, in what German media described as one of the country's largest-ever police actions against extremists.
The raids targeted alleged members of the "Citizens of the Reich" (Reichsbuerger) movement, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Prosecutors in Karlsruhe, southern Germany, said they had arrested 25 people, including one in Austria and another in Italy, and identified a further 27 people as suspected members or supporters of the network.
Germany considers far-right terrorism the biggest threat to its security following a spate of attacks in recent years© Tobias SCHWARZ
- Prince and politician -
Those arrested are accused of having formed a group that "had set itself the goal of overcoming the existing state order in Germany and replacing it with their own kind of state", they said.
"The accused are united by a deep rejection of state institutions and the free, democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany," they said.
The suspects were aware that their plan "could only be realised by using military means and violence against state representatives", prosecutors said.
They allegedly planned to appoint one of the arrested suspects, identified by local media as aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, as Germany's new leader after the coup.
Heinrich XIII had already sought to make contact with Russian officials to discuss Germany's "new state order" after the coup, prosecutors said.
There was however "no indication that the contact persons responded positively to his request", they said.
A Russian woman named only as Vitalia B., who was among those arrested on Wednesday, is suspected of having facilitated those contacts, prosecutors added.
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former member of parliament for the far-right AfD party and Berlin judge, was also arrested.
The ex-MP had been tapped by the group to take over as justice minister after the planned coup, chief prosecutor Frank said.
- 'Into the abyss' -
Other suspected members include current and former members of the German army in the "low single digits", a spokesman for the defence ministry said at a regular press conference.
One of those arrested was an active soldier in the KSK special forces, who worked in a "support" role, the spokesman said.
"A former officer of the special units of the German army" was likewise held near Perugia, Italy, the local police said in a statement.
The Reichsbuerger movement includes far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.
Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy and several groups have declared their own states.
Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, the Reichsbuerger have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.
The investigation gave "a look into the abyss" of far-right terror from the movement, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement.
According to prosecutors, the terror cell suspects believe in Reichsbuerger and QAnon conspiracy theories and are "strongly convinced" that Germany is run by a "deep state" that needs to be toppled.
As part of the preparations for the coup, members of the alleged terror cell acquired weapons, organised shooting practice and tried to recruit new followers, particularly among the military and police, according to prosecutors.
Germany considers far-right terrorism the biggest threat to its security following a spate of attacks in recent years.
In April, police foiled a plot by a far-right group to kidnap the health minister.
Far-right prince at centre of German coup plot
By AFP
Published December 8, 2022
A German prince was arrested, along with other alleged plotters, in a massive operation by German security forces Wednesday - Copyright AFP/File Ed JONES
Sam REEVES
A German prince, known for his desire to revive the country’s monarchy and rejected by his own family as a “mad old man”, has emerged as a central figure in an alleged coup plot.
Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, descendant of a noble family with a history dating back over eight centuries, was supposed to be installed as Germany’s new leader if the bizarre plan had succeeded, officials say.
But he was arrested, along with other alleged plotters including a right-wing ex-MP and former soldiers, in a massive nationwide operation by thousands of German security forces Wednesday.
The group are alleged members of the “Citizens of the Reich” (“Reichsbuerger”), an ideological movement grouping far-right extremists and conspiracy enthusiasts.
The suspected seditionists are said to have planned to storm parliament and had sketched out details of their new government.
Heinrich XIII, a real estate businessman, was arrested at his residence in Frankfurt and led out by police wearing masks.
At the same time, his castle in Bad Lobenstein in the eastern region of Thuringia — where his aristocratic family had once ruled over a swathe of land — was also searched.
It was at this grand residence where the prince allegedly plotted with others to overthrow the government.
The 71-year-old had made little attempt to hide his extreme views, which chimed with the “Reichsbuerger” movement’s belief in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy.
In a rambling speech to a conference in Zurich in 2019, he lamented the abdication of the German emperor in 1918, and insisted the modern-day German republic was illegitimate.
He referred to the “so-called Federal Republic of Germany” and said the country was “being controlled based on administrative structures installed by the Allies after World War II”, who had also written the constitution.
– ‘Black sheep’ –
Other descendants of the noble family have starkly different views however, and have long been trying to distance themselves from him.
The prince is “unfortunately a mad old man,” the family’s current head, Prince Heinrich XIV Reuss, told AFP, adding they had cut ties with him 14 years earlier.
“There is no contact with this black sheep of the family.”
The head of the house, who is based in Austria, said he was “very shocked” to hear of his relative’s alleged involvement in the plan to overthrow the government.
“It is very bad for the family’s reputation, no question,” he added.
On Thursday, federal police chief Holger Muench said the far-right group behind the plan was heavily armed and posed a real threat.
Those arrested included “a dangerous mix of people with irrational convictions, some with a lot of money and others in possession of weapons”, he told the ARD broadcaster.
Weapons including crossbows, rifles and ammunitions were uncovered during Wednesday’s raids, he said. Twenty-five were arrested in the raids while more are under investigation for their links to the group.
Still, views differed as to how serious the plot really was.
A comment piece in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily warned it would be naive to dismiss the group as “loonies”.
It noted the plotters included “teachers, doctors, business people… They are people who should actually be pillars of democracy”.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily, however, cautioned against “getting too carried away”, as nothing suggested the plot would have succeeded.
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