Extreme right group raids in Germany had plans for coup d'état, says Haldenwang
ADVERTISEMENTIn an explosive, bizarre and fanatical story, 25 people remain in detention in Germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. Wednesday's arrests amount to one the biggest anti-extremism operations in modern German history.
More details are coming to light as to what they had allegedly planned.
"This group, that has been eliminated today, distinguished themselves by having been well connected throughout the country, by precise plans about what they were about to do, and the project have been indeed quite violence orientated, they were considering killing people," says Thomas Haldenwang, President of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The plotters involved are said to include members of the extremist Reichsbürger movement, which has long been known by German police for having racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Other suspects came from the QAnon movement who believe their country is in the hands of a mythical "deep state".
A man named as Heinrich XIII, from an old aristocratic family, is alleged to have been central to their plans.
"Individuals were already earmarked to take over different portfolios, including a former member of the German Bundestag for the justice portfolio," says Peter Frank, German chief federal prosecutor. "In addition to this council, which was to plan a new statehood and a new state structure., there is, according to our knowledge, a military arm."
3,000 officers took part in 150 operations in Germany, with two more people arrested in Austria and Italy. The operation appears to indicate the extent of an alleged terrorist threat from extremists. But it's unclear how capable the group would have been in carrying out their plans.
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