Germany Arrests 25 In QAnon-Fueled Coup Plot, Proving America Does Too Still Export Stuff
Conspiracy theories, antivaxxers, and insurrection, oh my.
German police arrested 25 people Wednesday, accusing them of planning a rightwing coup to overthrow the democratically elected German government. More than 3,000 police, including some special forces, took part in raids and searches of 130 locations across the country; police said it was among the largest counter-terrorism operations since the end of World War II. German prosecutors said the rightwing group included members of the "Reichsbürger" (Citizens of the Reich), which has been suspected in racist and antisemitic attacks, as well as fanciers of the QAnon conspiracy. The group has also spread its message in German antivaxx groups, so that sounds remarkably familiar.
The plot included a plan to attack Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, to kill members or take them hostage. By golly, we have seen that movie. Here's a brief overview from the English news service of German network DW, which we felt compelled to include because the anchor looks uncannily like Jeff Goldblum.
In addition to the plan to storm the Bundestag, the group allegedly planned to attack Germany's electric grid and use the resulting chaos to foment a civil war. All told, while only 25 people were arrested, a total of 50 have been accused of involvement in the terrorist organization.
Among those arrested were Heinrich Reuss, a 71-year-old member of the former German royal family who calls himself "Prince Heinrich XIII," although Germany abolished the monarchy over a century ago. Others include Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former Bundestag member who belongs to the far-right AFD party; bizarrely, she's still a sitting judge and German courts haven't been able to kick her out.
Former members of the German military, including special forces soldiers, were also arrested in the sweep, and could we please just knock it off with the disturbing parallels to January 6, please? (To be clear, it's not yet certain whether any of the German coup plotters merely pretended to be special operators on the internet like their US counterparts.)
In a departure from the usual neo-Nazi calls to bring back the Third Reich, this crowd of violent rightwing Deutschebags sought to restore the Second Reich (1871-1918), when Germany was a proper empire with a Kaiser and all that. The group considers Germany's post-WWII government illegitimate, and German prosecutors said it had been plotting a violent overthrow of the government since November of last year, according to the BBC:
They had already established plans to rule Germany with departments covering health, justice and foreign affairs, the prosecutor said. Members understood they could only realise their goals by "military means and violence against state representatives", which included carrying out killings.
Investigators are thought to have got wind of the group when they uncovered a kidnap plot last April involving a gang who called themselves United Patriots.
They too were part of the Reichsbürger scene and had allegedly planned to abduct Health Minister Karl Lauterbach while also creating "civil war conditions" to bring about an end to Germany's democracy.
The group had planned for its military wing, led by those former special forces troops, to wipe out democratically elected local governments, as one does when the time of purification is at hand. Jesus, these creeps! Again, from the BBC:
Rüdiger von P is suspected of trying to recruit police officers in northern Germany and of having an eye on army barracks too. Bases in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria were all inspected for possible use after the government was overthrown, officials said.
One of those under investigation had been a member of the Special Commando Forces, and police searched his home and his room at the Graf-Zeppelin military base in Calw, south-west of Stuttgart.
On top of it all, the group apparently thought it would be able to get backing from Russia, and had assigned a Russian woman to make contact with the Russian government somehow. The Russian embassy in Berlin issued a statement saying that it doesn't "maintain contacts with representatives of terrorist groups and other illegal entities," so we guess that means there's nothing to worry about, or at least that terrorists seeking Russian support should please leave a message at the beep.
So far, US Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz haven't yet called for the release of those arrested, but we're sure the usual gang of rightwing frauds will soon be "asking questions" about why Germany is jailing patriots simply because they love their country. Given the deep affection of the American Right for European authoritarians, we won't be the least bit surprised if the arrests in Germany become a talking point in US far-right politics.
[ CBS News / BBC / DW News on YouTube]
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Who says Germans don't have a sense of humor?
Richard Grenell is very skeptical of these arrests. Says that they are being targeted ass dissenters, like the poor J6 folks. Of course he is an asshole.