Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – According to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the security authorities count around 3,400 people in North Rhine-Westphalia in the scene of “Reich citizens” and “self-administrators”. According to current knowledge, the vast majority is not anchored in fixed organizational structures, but the scene has a “considerable potential for danger” and the potential readiness for “serious acts of violence”. The police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia are monitoring the scene very closely, said Reul in the state parliament’s interior committee in Düsseldorf.
“Right-wing terrorism” would pursue the country “with all consequences”. According to Reul, the dangerous thing is that several scenes mix, connect and network. This could result in fixed organizational structures or ties that plan acts of violence or intend to overthrow the rule of law. There is “zero tolerance” on the questions.
In addition to right-wing extremists, supporters of conspiracy myths or theories and recalcitrant state deniers, according to NRW constitutional protection chief Jürgen Kayser, people from the middle class, corona deniers or movements such as the “United Patriots” can also be attributed to the so-called Reichsbürger scene. Reul spoke of a “mixed scene”. The majority of the 3,400 people lack organizational ties, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. 185 of them are said to be right-wing extremists. “A bizarre little lid fits on every bizarre head,” said Reul.
A topic after his report in the interior committee was also the armament in the scene. According to the security authorities, 123 people from the “Reichsbürger” scene in North Rhine-Westphalia have a gun permit, and 37 even have a gun owner’s license. 118 people who have a gun license have been or are being checked. Most of the revocation procedures are still ongoing. “Anyone who is a “Reich citizen” may not own a weapon,” demanded FDP parliamentary group leader Marc Lürbke.
Last week there was a nationwide raid on the “Reichsbürger” scene with several searches and many arrests. NRW was not a focus, however, only three objects were searched by two people. Among them was a policewoman from the Minden-Lübbcke district, whose home and workplace were searched. She is listed as a suspect in the proceedings and has been suspended from service.
“Reich citizens” are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution assigns around 21,000 supporters to the scene nationwide.
