German “crackpots” movement becomes deadly and radical

• The security services are growing more concerned about the Reichsbürger.
• They claim they are becoming more dangerous and extremist.
• Around 5% of the 21,000 members of the “scene” are thought to be right-wing radicals.

For many years, the Reichsbürger were derided as “crackpots” and a source of national ridicule. However, the security services are growing more concerned about them as they claim they are becoming more dangerous and extremist.

Members oppose the legitimacy of the German government as well as the post-war state of Germany. Despite the name, this is not a formalized national movement; rather, it is a heterogeneous collection of localized individuals and small groups dispersed throughout the nation.

Some people dream of founding their own autonomous state and print their own money and identification documents.

For instance, a group calling itself the Königreich Deutschland (Kingdom Germany) purchased two parcels of land in Saxony earlier this year with the intention of establishing their own self-governing state there.

Others deliberately block up the operations of local authorities by sending a lot of letters that are frequently rude or refuse to pay taxes. And many people own guns, whether legally or not.

The German government has cancelled more than a thousand gun licenses belonging to individuals they suspect of adhering to the ideology since 2016, when a Reichsbürger shot and killed a police officer as they searched his cache of guns. However, by the end of the previous year, only 500 people possessed active weapons licenses.

According to official data, more than 1,000 radical criminal acts were perpetrated in 2021 by Reichsbürger and so-called Selbstverwalter, a “organization” with similar ideals that translates to “self-administrators,” more than double the number from the previous year.

Around 5% of the 21,000 members of the Reichsbürger “scene” are thought to be right-wing radicals, and 10% may be violent.

According to Miro Dittrich, a specialist who follows the group as well as other conspiracy theorists, they apparently have connections to the German military.

He thinks that the pandemic has both increased support for the group and contributed to further radicalize it.

In fact, several Reichsbürger members hold similar views to those of anti-vaxxers, Covid sceptics, and QAnon backers. These individuals have all participated in recent large-scale public protests together. In August 2020, they were present as a crowd from a Covid protest attempted to storm the Bundestag.

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Many people have been shocked by the extent to which conspiracy ideas in general, especially during the pandemic, have permeated German culture. While covering different demonstrations over the past few years, I personally encountered it.

I’ve heard it from many people who claim that the Covid vaccine is poisonous or who reiterate the widely held belief that the German government wants to “replace” the “original” population with immigrants.

A guy recently claimed that Germany’s foreign and economy ministries were ready to declare war on their own nation at a tiny demonstration over high energy prices.

The potential for that to escalate into violence is what the authorities are concerned about. Of course, not all conspiracy theorists pose a threat to your safety. However, numerous leaders in this country have experienced death threats.

Many more people are debating how to halt the spread of false information. Therefore, the raids and arrests that took place today will cause great national anxiety.

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