Germany Arrests Far-Right Activists for Attempted Kidnapping

On Tuesday, German authorities arrested five far-right activists from the "Reichsbürger" group (Citizens of the Reich) under suspicion of being involved in a plot to kidnap a minister and overthrow the government, which was uncovered in 2022.

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The General Prosecutor's Office in Koblenz reported the detention of a 52-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman charged with supporting and participating in a terrorist organization.

These individuals were apprehended in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and supported an organization with the aim of overthrowing the constitutional order in Germany and replacing it with an authoritarian government inspired by the Reich of 1871.

The institution recalled that several members of the same organization, the "Patriots United," were arrested in April 2022 in connection with an alleged plan to kidnap the Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, and cause a massive blackout that would plunge Germany into chaos.

The 52-year-old man is suspected of being responsible for inspecting high-voltage networks to prepare for the blackout, while the woman managed various messaging groups for the organization and created a manual for manufacturing explosives.

Another individual, arrested this morning in Bavaria, had declared his willingness to participate in Lauterbach's kidnapping and to travel to Croatia to acquire weapons for this purpose.

A 49-year-old man was also detained in North Rhine-Westphalia, and a 61-year-old in Hesse, while the police conducted searches in the latter state, as well as in Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg.

Five members of the "Patriots United" who were arrested last year are facing trial in a Koblenz court on charges of high treason due to their plans to kidnap Lauterbach and overthrow the government.

The Reichsbürger is a far-right movement that claims the Federal Republic of Germany is not a legitimate state and aspires to replace it with an authoritarian and nationalist system.