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- Explainer: What is the 'Reich Citizens' movement?
Explainer: What is the 'Reich Citizens' movement?
Extremist German group united by anti-democratic and xenophobic views
In Germany, 25 members of a far-right group were arrested on Wednesday in raids across the country on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.
German media reported that the group of far-right and ex-military figures planned to storm the parliament building and seize power. Among those arrested were members of the extremist Reichsbürger ("Reich Citizens") movement who have incited violent attacks, racist conspiracy theories, and refuse to recognize the modern German state.
They consider themselves stateless or as citizens of the so-called "German Reich" - the German empire that existed from 1871 until the end of the first World War. Some go to the lengths of making their own ID cards or passports for the German Reich or even declaring their own kingdoms or states.
Others refer to what the Nazis called the "Third Reich" on the borders of 1937.
What unites them is that they are all against democracy, they are xenophobic and often racist, and they can be violent, as the Wednesday morning raid showed. It is difficult to determine the number of members of the group in Germany as they are not considered very organized, although German security forces estimate that there are about 20,000 around the country.
The movement began in the 1980s and in the recent decade, has entered more into the awareness of the German public and caught the attention of the security authorities. This is due to more weapons being found at incidents and other actions such as refusing police control at events.
Several members are being watched by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, a department of Germany's internal intelligence agency. The network of people arrested on Wednesday were being monitored since the spring. Other members were arrested in Austria and Italy in connection with the movement.
They wanted to have German members of parliament arrested if the coup was successful. They also wanted to conduct attacks on the electricity infrastructure in Germany to cause a blackout in the entire country.
With more than 3,000 police involved, it was one of the biggest operations in the history of Germany.