Efringen-Kirchen and Boxberg represent a relatively new form of violence: “Reich citizens” attack police officers. The judiciary is increasing, because more and more suspected supporters of the scene are on trial.
The attack by a suspected “Reich citizen” on 14 police officers in Boxberg, Baden, a year ago, caused horror nationwide. At the start of the trial before the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart, the 55-year-old defendant was silent on the allegations. The federal prosecutor accuses him, among other things, of attempted murder several times, and he is said to have illegally stashed an entire arsenal of weapons in the house. His lawyer says he will only provide information on his CV at the end of April.
The accused sits in the heavily secured courtroom behind an armored pane. The hearing was adjourned after less than an hour, the 55-year-old grabbed his notebook and was led out of the room in handcuffs and ankle cuffs. He will enter it often in the coming months.
Because the allegations weigh heavily. The federal prosecutor describes the scenes that took place on April 20 last year in the small community between Heilbronn and Würzburg. 14 officers want to search the suspect’s apartment to confiscate a pistol. They came with two armored vehicles because they were warned: The accused is on record and lives in the apartment of a family that is assigned to the “Reichsbürger” scene. During the course of the operation, the man fired a dozen shots at the police officers with a rapid-fire rifle.
Trying to defend the property?
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the man now accused sees his property and the apartment “as an independent area, at least not subject to the legal system of the Federal Republic of Germany” and secures it accordingly.
The police officers announce themselves in the morning hours with blue lights and sirens, they shout loudly and finally penetrate the man’s property. One of the policemen puts the angle grinder on the almost completely closed window shutters. “At that moment at the latest, the defendant decided to shoot the police officers he recognized as such,” reads the federal prosecutor. After him, the man in the house opens fire and injures one of the officers on both legs, another is slightly injured when he tries to protect himself and his colleagues with a protective shield in the hail of bullets.
Armory found
The man barricaded himself in the house for two hours, shooting from the living room, changing position in the bedroom and firing more shots. At some point, flames erupt from the house, and finally the person surrounded gives up. “He realized that he would no longer be able to do anything against the superior power of the police,” said the federal prosecutor in court. In the badly damaged house, the investigators came across a weapons depot: Rifles and submachine guns were ready to hand there, the investigators counted a total of 5,116 rounds of ammunition, all without permission, as well as imperial flags.
The federal prosecutor’s office is certain: The man who will be in the high-security room in the dock until at least October is a so-called Reich citizen. A man who denies the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany and makes his own rules. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution assumes around 23,000 supporters – and the trend is rising. Among them are violent and right-wing extremists. Some of the scene are in possession of guns.
Further trial in southern Baden
It is the second case in Stuttgart that Federal Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank has brought against the scene within a short period of time. Almost two weeks ago, a suspected “Reich citizen” was sentenced to ten years in prison for attempted murder. However, the judgment is not yet final. The 62-year-old is said to have intentionally hit a police officer in Efringen-Kirchen in southern Baden and seriously injured him.
The federal prosecutor’s office is also responsible for possible charges following the raids in December and almost two weeks ago, as well as the probable case of multiple attempted murders against a suspected “Reich citizen” from Reutlingen. According to the prosecutors, the man shot at police officers during the most recent raid. Frank recently spoke of more than 60 suspects after the raids. The investigation would take some time.
“The Reich citizen scene poses a real danger to our state – which was not only shown by the terrible event last spring in Boxberg,” warns the Baden-Württemberg Justice Minister Marion Gentges (CDU). About every tenth person in the scene is considered violent.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
