The gist Authorities have targeted 5 suspects, all German, between the ages of 41 and 55, and have made 4 arrests at this stage.
German justice on Thursday announced the arrest of four members of a far-right network in the Antivax movement and opponents of anti-Covid rules who were planning “violent attacks” in Germany and kidnappings of “public figures”.
This messaging network called “United Patriots” aims to destroy “the German democratic system”, said the Koblenz public prosecutor and the Rhineland-Palatinate police in a joint press release.
The suspects, arrested the previous day during extensive searches, had specifically planned to attack the power grids in order to cause “a protracted blackout across the territory” which they said would have set the stage for a “civil war”. .
Guns, ammunition and bullion
Since October 2021, authorities in several parts of the country have been investigating the group, its founders and supporters. In Wednesday’s raid, they notably seized firearms and ammunition, gold bars and silver coins, more than 10,000 euros worth of currency, as well as mobile phones, fake Covid-19 vaccination cards or even several documents written about their plans to overthrow the state.
Authorities have targeted 5 suspects, all Germans, between the ages of 41 and 55 and have made 4 arrests so far, the statement said.
Police operations against the radical fringe of the anti-health lockdown movement have multiplied in the country that has put far-right violence at the forefront of threats to public order before the risk of jihad. This movement has been particularly mobilized in Germany since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and is active in Telegram groups when threats are made against elected officials or during demonstrations.
Murder of an elected official in 2019
The country was also shocked by the assassination in June 2019 of Walter Lübcke, elected by the conservative party, by a neo-Nazi activist who was defending former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy of accepting migrants.
In early April, German authorities specifically targeted far-right terrorist circles as part of a broader investigation involving police and military intelligence services since 2019.
Four suspects from the group “Knockout 51” were then arrested. The ongoing investigations are also directed against the right-wing extremist group “Atomwaffe Division Germany”, the German offshoot of the American neo-Nazi movement. On Wednesday, the federal prosecutor’s office announced the indictment against a young German sympathizer of this movement, who is suspected of wanting to trigger “a race war” in Germany through attacks with explosives and firearms.