Guessing: plans for the “Reich Citizens” to overthrow are particularly strange

The reason for this: The coup plans of the partly right-wing extremist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists are said to be extremely absurd and strange.

The preparations for the preservation of evidence and the arrest of the alleged conspirators ran for weeks. Officials from the security authorities of several federal states were inaugurated. Internally, the operation was called “Shadow”. In fact, even after the arrest of the main suspects, some things are still in the shadows.

group wanted to abolish democracy by force

The investigators are convinced that members of the group are violent and see themselves as a kind of vanguard who would take the lead in a coup. Nevertheless, there are many indications that the presentation of evidence when it comes to trial will not be easy. Because some of the ideas that circulated in the group were so strange that the line between perception and reality is often difficult to draw. This applies above all to their assumption that an alliance of foreign actors will intervene in Germany.

Some of the suspects are said to overlap with the radical opponents of the anti-corona measures, for example in Pforzheim. The group of those arrested also includes a police officer who appeared at “lateral thinkers” protests and is defending himself against his dismissal from the police force. One thing is certain: the restrictions decided during the pandemic also played a role in statements made by members of the group on social media.

Some of the suspects have known each other for a long time. Two of those arrested had served together in the Bundeswehr in the 1990s, in Parachute Battalion 251, which was later partially merged into the Special Forces Command (KSK).

Among other things found swords and crossbows

A number of weapons were found during the searches on Wednesday. However, according to an initial list, these were mainly signal guns or alarm guns as well as swords and crossbows. In other words, not enough gear for the overthrow scenario the group is said to have prepared for. The searches were still not fully completed on Thursday. The fact that only a short gun and two long guns that shoot live ammunition were discovered immediately after the access, raises questions: Are there perhaps still secret, previously undiscovered weapon depots? And did suspects possibly get wind of the planned raid and make weapons disappear in time? According to information from security circles, several of the suspects had a weapon license, for example as a marksman.

It is said that a list with the names of members of parliament was found on one of the suspects. Unannotated so the meaning of this list is unclear. The politicians concerned had been informed, it said.