Illegal Activity - Law enforcement conducts operation against purported "Reichsbürger" terrorist gang.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office has initiated a new raid against alleged backs of the suspected terrorist organization tied to the "Reichsbürger" ideology championed by Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuß.
In a statement, a representative from the Karlsruhe authority disclosed that the police conducted this operation in several locations - Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein. According to an earlier report by "Der Spiegel," some of the suspects were overheard talking about several hidden weapon caches that had yet to be discovered.
This crackdown is allegedly led by the Federal Prosecutor's Office against two suspects in Baden-Württemberg, said the spokesperson. The authorities claimed that these individuals were supporting an internal terrorist organization. No detentions have been reported yet.
Dpa revealed that apartments of the two suspects in Althengstett and Bad Teinach (both Calw district) were raided, along with the corresponding plots. A 73-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman are accused of facilitating hosting events for the Reichsbürger group around Prince Reuß in Saxony during winter 2021/2022.
The supposed leaders of the group are currently appearing in court at the Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main. Moreover, the female defendant is said to have handed over a car to Rudiger v. P. in autumn 2021.
The Reichsbürger group in Germany believes that the German Reich (1871-1945) still exists and they reject the Federal Republic's laws. The group has been linked to numerous arrests and three trials so far. An anti-terror raid targeting thousands of members of the Reichsbürger was conducted in various states and outside Germany shortly after St. Nicholas Day 2022. Since then, several people have been apprehended for planning to destabilize the political system in Germany.
Lives were deliberately targeted in these alleged activities, and individuals had developed structures for their own state order. Prince Reuß was to serve as the head of state, and Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former Berlin judge and former AfD Bundestag member, was supposed to oversee the justice department. A former officer from the Bundeswehr's Special Forces Command was also implicated in the case.
The trials are set to take place in the Higher Regional Courts of Frankfurt am Main (9th), Stuttgart (Landgericht Stuttgart), and Munich (Landgericht München I). In Frankfurt, a Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) official shared insight into Reuß's personal relationships, including company alignments, internet presence, associations, car count, finances, and residences. The defense objected multiple times.
The indictment in Stuttgart accuses the military part of the supposed terrorist group. This group supposedly intended to enforce the takeover through force. To achieve this, they had started setting up a nationwide system of 286 associations referred to as "Homeland Protection Companies." The "Homeland Protection Company No. 221" was said to be in charge of enforcing the takeover in the regions of Freudenstadt and Tübingen - where the Calw district is located.
Special units and experts in combating weapons were deployed for this operation. Approximately 700 officials joined the search efforts from the Federal Criminal Police, the Federal Police, and the police departments of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt, as well as Schleswig-Holstein.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office stated in a further development that special units of the federal and Baden-Württemberg governments were also involved in the operations within Baden-Württemberg. Forces from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service (EOD) of the state and the Technical Relief Organization of Saxony were engaged. Heavy equipment is also being used.
Additionally, the General Prosecutor's Office in Dresden conducted two raids in connection with the Reichsbürger scene in Erzgebirgskreis, with actions occurring in Seiffen and Pockau-Lengefeld. Details surrounding the background of these raids weren't immediately available.
