Free Republic

A self-declared "king" of Germany and three of his senior "subjects" have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state. Peter Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security personnel. The government banned their group, the Reichsbürger, or "citizens of the Reich", which seeks to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or "Kingdom of Germany". Alexander Dobrindt, German's interior minister, accused the group of attempting to "undermine the rule of law" by creating an alternative state and spreading "antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim...

The terrorist plot foiled by German security services makes abundantly clear that far-right extremism is not a uniquely American problem, but a pervasive threat to Western democracy. In a series of raids across Germany, 3,000 members of law enforcement apprehended 25 people suspected of plotting a coup. Eerily reminiscent of certain aspects of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. capitol, the plan called for storming the Bundestag (parliament), murdering the chancellor and seizing ministers. The plotters are associated with the Reichsbűrger movement, an anti-government group with approximately 21,000 followers that denies the legitimacy of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic...

German authorities say they have foiled a plot by a far-right terrorist group to overthrow the government. More than 3,000 police officers took part in raids across the country, with a self-styled prince among 25 people arrested. But who is Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss - the 71-year-old alleged mastermind - and what is the Reichsburger movement that's said to have inspired the plan? Heinrich XIII comes from a German aristocratic family that goes back to the 12th century, the House of Ruess, and authorities say the plotters planned to make him leader of a new government. According to German news...

German police staged nationwide raids on Wednesday and arrested 25 people suspected of belonging to a far-right "terror cell" plotting to overthrow the government and attack parliament. Around 3,000 officers including elite anti-terror units took part in the early morning raids and searched more than 130 properties, in what German media described as one of the country's largest police actions ever against extremists. The raids targeted alleged members of the "Citizens of the Reich" (Reichsbuerger) movement suspected of "having made concrete preparations to violently force their way into the German parliament with a small armed group". Those arrested are accused...

MAINZ, Germany — Authorities in Germany arrested 25 people on Wednesday who are suspected of planning to violently overthrow the government in a far-right extremist plot. More than 3,000 police officers, including special forces, made 130 early morning searches across 11 of Germany's 16 federal states in one of the biggest counterterrorism operations in the country's history. Suspects from the so-far unnamed group include a nobleman with a historic royal title and various armed forces veterans. It is centered on the so-called Reichsbürger, or Reich Citizens, movement which is motivated by conspiracy theories about the role and legitimacy of the...

Berlin authorities estimate that some 30,000 people attended the latest coronavirus skeptic demo. While most of the day was peaceful, hundreds of people attempted to storm the Reichstag parliament building. […] With some unidentifiable German pop music playing in the background, the feeling at the afternoon rally is reminiscent of a town festival, but a closer look at the T-shirts emblazoned with slogans suggests otherwise. Out the back of a hire truck, one man is closing a sale with an elderly, white-haired woman with a walking stick. “That’ll be €5 ($5.95),” he says, handing her a red T-shirt with the...

Officials in the German region of Bavaria are asking for increased surveillance of the Reichsburger — Reich Citizens — movement, whose members do not recognize the authority of the German state, following two attacks on police this week. Germany’s domestic intelligence services estimate 100 active members in the far-right movement although there may be a few hundred more hangers-on. This week’s attacks left a 32-year-old police officer dead. Bavarian officials said the government has shifted too much focus to Islamic terrorists, neglecting right-wing groups, amid rising xenophobia, anti-foreigner sentiment and increased neo-Nazi propaganda. “Bavaria has not previously witnessed such a...