German police have carried out raids and detained members of a far-right organisation that planned to violently topple the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and kidnap the health minister, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors claim that searches were conducted as part of the actions against the Reichsbuerger group in six states.
According to a report, supporters of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) do not view contemporary Germany as a genuine state. Some of them support the monarchical German empire, some support Nazi ideologies, while still others think that Germany is under military occupation.
The Vereinte Patrioten planned to form a government modeled after the German Reich constitution of 1871 and capture German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
According to authorities, the group formed in mid-January 2022 with the goal of “instigating civil war-like conditions in Germany through violence” in the hope of destroying the government and parliamentary democracy.
According to authorities, the organisation allegedly planned targeted explosive strikes with the goal of causing a statewide power outage lasting several weeks in order to cut off the public from television and press coverage.
Five suspected members captured last year have been on trial since May on high treason allegations brought by prosecutors.
Among those arrested on Tuesday was a 61-year-old man from the central German state of Hesse, who donated his garage as a storage location for firearms and volunteered to take part in the kidnapping, according to prosecutors.
A 49-year-old male was also detained in Mettmann, while two more German nationals, 52 and 32, were detained in Rhineland Palatinate. A 41-year-old male was also detained in southern Germany.
None of the suspects were named.
As part of the raid in Hesse, police confiscated a crossbow, a BB gun, and various documents among other items, they added.
