According to the information, around twelve people from the chat group are identified. They are said to have planned to destroy power supply facilities in order to trigger a nationwide power outage. Power lines and substations are said to have been targeted. “According to the accused, this should cause civil war-like conditions and ultimately overthrow the democratic system in Germany,” said a statement from the public prosecutor’s office and the LKA. Investigations against the group have been ongoing since October last year.
In addition, the “kidnapping of well-known public figures” is said to have been part of the group’s plans. The investigators named Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach as a target. The SPD politician had repeatedly reported threats against him.
At the beginning of March, after the Austrian Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) had resigned due to constant hostilities, among other things, the German Health Minister wrote on Twitter: “It’s a shame that he was forced out of office by threats. I too will be around the clock guarded and know this burden.” Last fall, Lauterbach wrote: “For days there have been calls on the internet again to kill me. It’s absolutely unacceptable that something like this doesn’t have to be deleted immediately.”
270 officers on duty
As part of the investigation into the chat group, 20 properties in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia were searched on Wednesday. There were most actions with five in Rhineland-Palatinate, there were three each in Bavaria and Lower Saxony. Around 270 officers, including special units, were deployed. Weapons, ammunition, cash, gold bars and silver coins were seized. Four suspects were arrested and arrest warrants had been applied for.
Reich citizens and anti-corona scene
Accordingly, Germans aged 55, 54, 50, 42 and 41 are accused of preparing a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state and of violating the Weapons and War Weapons Control Act. The people of the Corona protest scene and the Reich Citizens’ Movement can be assigned. This combination is what is special about this group, said LKA President Johannes Kunz. The main suspect is said to be a 55-year-old from Neustadt/Weinstrasse in Rhineland-Palatinate and from Brandenburg. The 55-year-old was arrested when preparing to hand over a weapon.
Source: Nachrichten
