The Office for the Protection of the Constitution had the situation surrounding the “Reichsbürger” group “completely under control”, as President Haldenwang says. The widespread armament of the group is still dangerous.
The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, does not assume that the network from the “Reichsbürger” scene, which was dismantled on Wednesday, posed an acute risk of overthrow. “We had this situation completely under control,” he said on “RTL Direkt”. The group that had planned an armed coup in Germany had been under surveillance “since the spring of this year.”
However, Haldenwang does not give the all-clear. The increasing willingness to use violence and the tendency to use weapons are problematic. “The affinity for weapons is very high. There are legal and illegal weapons.” Many members of the scene have had their weapons confiscated in recent years. Nevertheless, the widespread armament makes the group dangerous.
Haldenwang also pointed to the large number of so-called Reich citizens in Germany: “We count 21,000 people among them, and we also consider ten percent to be violent.” The extent of the networking of “Reich citizens” is also new. “Here for the first time you have the situation that a nationwide network has taken place, with very concrete plans. There were plans to overthrow the government, there were plans to actually implement a coup.”
According to the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, one day after the raid the number of accused members or supporters rose from 52 to 54. However, this number could continue to grow, he said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. “We still have identified other individuals whose status we do not yet know exactly in relation to this group,” he added.
Like Haldenwang, Münch also said that the German state system had never been endangered. “You don’t have to assume that a group that is a two-digit number, maybe a small three-digit number, is able to really question the state system in Germany,” he said. Nevertheless, the group is dangerous because it follows “irrational beliefs”. Investigators found weapons and ammunition on 50 objects. “It shows that it’s not harmless,” said Münch.
On Wednesday, the police and the Federal Public Prosecutor took action nationwide against a suspected terrorist network of Reich citizens who are said to have planned a violent overthrow. 25 people were arrested, 19 are now in custody, according to the investigators. An armed attack on the Bundestag was in concrete preparation, possible deaths were accepted. In this context, Haldenwang praised the “super cooperation between the security authorities”.
Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier meanwhile sees a connection between the “Reichsbürger” and the AfD, which is monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in his state. “The AfD has become more and more radicalized. It spreads these conspiracy myths, it spreads these conspiracy fantasies and fantasies of overthrow,” said the SPD politician on Deutschlandfunk. “But what’s worse is that it ultimately functions as an organizational center, an interface for networking right-wing extremist organizations. And that’s what makes this party more and more dangerous.”
Maier spoke of a difficult environment with serious crises. “People are worried, many are afraid. And that’s exactly what the AfD is of course addressing,” said Maier. The party is trying to scare people even further. “They fantasize about an authoritarian state system. That’s basically what they’re aiming for.” In connection with the raid, the minister expected further arrests. Experience has shown that a second wave follows because evidence is evaluated. Other people came into focus. “I assume that there will be more arrests.”
