A massive German police operation, code-named “Soko” (“Shadow”), carried out among far-right organizations and conspiracy theorists, led to the dismantling of a cell planning armed attacks and targeting mainly the Bundestag this morning, according to a statement from the German federal prosecutor’s office. In fact, the overthrow of the German government was at the heart of their plans.

Police raids were carried out in 11 federal states, and 25 people belonging to the Reich Citizens (Reichsbürger) organization were arrested. At 6 am, special forces broke into a house in Berlin’s Wannsee district and arrested a former member of parliament from the AfD and a Berlin judge. Three minutes later they broke into the Weidmannscheil bunker in Thuringia. At the same time, the special forces checked about 30 properties in Baden-Württemberg and, in particular, a car repair shop and a carpentry shop in Saxony. Further research was carried out in Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Austria and Perugia in Italy.

According to the statement, those arrested are suspected of “specific preparations for forcible entry into the German Bundestag with the help of a small armed group.” This particular organization has been under the gun of the German police for a long time due to violent attacks and racist conspiracy theories. They also refuse to recognize the modern German state, pay taxes, for example, and often clash with the authorities. The Constitution Defense Agency estimates that the organization has about 21,000 followers and has been credited with more than 1,000 crimes to date.

It is said that the mastermind behind this plan was a 71-year-old German named Prince Henry XIII. According to federal prosecutors, he is one of two alleged ringleaders among those arrested – the second is considered a 69-year-old former commando. Approximately 50 men and women were allegedly part of a group said to be plotting to overthrow the republic and replace it with a new state modeled after Germany in 1871, an empire called the “Second Reich”.

Among the suspects are a soldier currently serving in the Special Forces Command, as well as several reservists, a spokesman for the German military counterintelligence (MAD) told DPA. It is reported that the home and office of a soldier in a camp in Baden-Württemberg were searched.

According to German reports, former members of the German army special forces were also involved in a large part of the planned coup. According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the conspirators had already drawn up plans to govern Germany. Members understood that they could only be brought to their goal by “military means and violence against representatives of the state,” including assassinations.

The German public broadcaster ZDF reported that the former far-right member of the Bundestag also belonged to the group and was to be appointed Minister of Justice, headed by Prince Henry XIII.

In addition to arrests in Germany, two people were arrested in Austria and Italy, according to the German news agency DPA. The detainees will be taken to the investigator.

Justice Minister Marco Busman tweeted that a major counterterrorism operation was underway to arrest suspects in an “armed attack on constitutional institutions” and a federal prosecutor said the group had been planning a violent coup since November 2021.

It is worth noting that the whole operation was provoked by the investigation of another group of “Citizens of the Reich”, who planned to kidnap the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach.

Interior Minister: Citizens of the Reich is a threat to Germany

Arrest claims for 25 suspects who they belonged in the far-right Citizens of the Reich and planned, among other things, to overthrow the German government, the German Interior Minister said today, Nancy Pfizer.

As he pointed out, “investigations into a far-right plot to overthrow the German government demonstrate the threat posed by the Citizens of the Reich, which denies the existence of a modern German state.”

OUR pfizer he pointed out that the investigations revealed part of the abyss of the terrorist threat, adding that the government is acting to prevent such actions, using all the consequences of the rule of law.

Source: APE-MPE, BBC, Reuters, DW, Bild.