(UnitedVoice.com) – Five years ago, in 2017, the German government arrested two army officers. The government accused the men of plotting to murder a former president and the nation’s justice minister. In the wake of the arrests, officials began an investigation to find right-wing extremists in the country. In 2020, police detained 12 more men for allegedly planning political attacks.
Authorities have now uncovered the biggest plot yet to cause violence in the country. Police have arrested more than two dozen people.
Mass Arrests
On December 7, Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank held a press conference to reveal the arrests of 25 individuals accused of plotting to overthrow Germany’s Democratic government. The prosecution posted shocking details about the alleged crime on its website.
Prosecutors revealed the group had a suspected 52 members. The group intended to form its own military and allow them to rule the country while they figured out the details of the new government. Roughly 3,000 law enforcement officers carried out raids in the early morning hours of December 7. The operation spanned 11 states and involved two foreign countries, including the cities of Kitzbühel, Austria, and Perugia, Italy.
Authorities arrested a Russian national who allegedly supported the plan in the raid as well. The prosecutors only identified the person as “Vitalia B.”
Ideology
The group reportedly formed around their admiration for a 71-year-old man going by the name Prince Heinrich XIII. He claims membership in the royal house of Reuss, which once included an actual prince by that name before the abolition of the monarchy in 1918.
The Federal Court of Justice handed out warrants for the alleged members of the far-right plot. The arrests included a retired paratrooper, a former judge, and a man claiming to be a prince. According to the press release, those involved in the plot believed in a number of conspiracy theories. They believe the people running the current German government belong to the “deep state.” The suspects intended to overthrow the deep state, then install their own cabinet members.
Group members began forming a leadership council and picking people to serve in various roles. The fake prince was reportedly going to serve as the head of state in the new, far-right government.
Steffen Hebestreit, a government spokesperson, told The Hill the group “planned to violently abolish [Germany’s] democratic state of law” and also intended to carry out “an armed attack” on parliament.
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