Since the morning, searches have been carried out on “Reich citizens” in several federal states. A police officer was shot at in Reutlingen. The operation is related to the raid in early December.
During nationwide searches in the “Reichsbürger” milieu in Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, an officer of a special task force was slightly injured by a shot. The condition of the police officer is stable according to dpa information. A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe confirmed that a shot was fired during the search on Wednesday morning. The person had been arrested for the time being and was being investigated for attempted homicide.
According to her, there were no other arrests. She did not comment on possible injuries, nor on the background and scope of the searches. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the search in Reutlingen took place on someone who had not previously been considered a suspect. The arrested person could still be brought before the magistrate at the Karlsruhe Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday.
The shooter is said to have entrenched himself and defended himself when the emergency services arrived. A reporter from the German Press Agency at the scene in Reutlingen reported that there were five loud bangs in a house in the morning. A police spokesman on site confirmed a connection with the investigation, but gave no details. According to dpa information, the police blew up a locked door.
20 objects searched
The searches were directed against five suspects from Bavaria, Lower Saxony, Saxony and Switzerland on suspicion of supporting a terrorist organization, said a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office on request. In addition, the premises of 14 other people who are not considered suspicious were searched.
According to dpa information, the focus of the searches was Baden-Württemberg. WDR, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported that searches had been carried out on 19 people in seven federal states and in Switzerland. The Attorney General had a total of 20 objects searched, said Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) on Twitter.
According to information from the German Press Agency, six objects in the area of three police headquarters in Bavaria were searched: Lower Franconia, Munich and Upper Bavaria South. In Lower Saxony, an object in the Hanover area was affected, as a spokesman for the local Ministry of the Interior said. There was also a search in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to security circles.
Confidentiality agreements brought investigators on the track
At the beginning of December there was a large-scale anti-terror raid against “Reich citizens” in several federal states, Austria and Italy. At that time, 25 men and women were arrested. In this process, the federal prosecutor also determined against 30 other people. It had always been said that it could not be ruled out that more suspects would be added over time.
The new searches are related to this. As the dpa learned, signed non-disclosure agreements discovered during the first raid were an important starting point for the operation on Wednesday. According to the security authorities, several gun owners were among the signatories.
WDR, NDR and “SZ” reported, citing the federal prosecutor’s office, that five additional suspects were among those searched. They come from Bavaria, Saxony and Lower Saxony. The other 14 have not yet been considered suspects, but witnesses, and apparently appeared in chats.
“Reich citizens” are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution counted around 23,000 people across Germany in 2022, 2,000 more than in the previous year.
Source: Stern
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