Yahoo Movies Germany Arrests QAnon-Linked Extremists Over Plot to Topple Government
German Special Forces conducted a wave of arrests Wednesday, detaining 25 individuals suspected of harboring connections to a domestic terrorist group aiming to overthrow the nation’s government. German prosecutors allege that the far-right group has been heavily influenced by QAnon ideology.
The large-scale action involved raids of over 130 locations, and investigations into an additional 27 individuals who were not arrested. The individuals detained include a Russian national, a member of the German nobility, and a former parliamentarian affiliated with the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
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The group had planned to overthrow the German government, in part by assassinating government officials and installing “Heinrich XIII P.R.,” identified by German officials as 71-year-old Prince Heinrich XIII, a German noble of the House of Reuss. Heinrich was among those arrested.
According to a press release from the German attorney general’s office, the group was founded around November 2021. Prosecutors allege the organization adheres to the ideology of the “Reichsbürger,” or Citizens of the Reich, and is heavily influenced by QAnon. According to the statement, the group is “firmly convinced that Germany is currently governed by members of a so-called ‘deep state.’” The group also believes an “Alliance” of “technically superior secret society of governments, intelligence services and the military of various states, including the Russian Federation and the United States of America” had assets present in Germany prepared to assist in securing liberation from “deep state” forces.
The organization had reportedly engaged in paramilitary training for its members, and began acquiring arms and equipment in preparation for its coup. Several of the accused individuals were preparing to occupy government positions and head agencies following the overthrow. According to prosecutors, the group targeted members of the Bundeswehr, the German military, and the German police.
The Reichsbürger movement was founded in 1985, and holds that the post-World War II German government amounts to an illegitimate occupation of the German empire by the allied powers. The movement, which is estimated to have around 19,000 adherents, is far-right in nature, and leans heavily into neo-Nazi ideology, racism, and antisemitism.
QAnon-fueled anti-government conspiracies — particularly medical conspiracies and the overarching narrative of government illegitimacy and mistrust — proved fertile ground for the Reichsbürger movement. In 2020, prior to the plot’s conception, far-right anti-vaccine protesters attempted to storm the German Reichstag, and the crowd was peppered with QAnon believers who had adopted the American conspiracy abroad.
The next year, the German Interior Ministry issued a directive to increase surveillance on coronavirus conspiracy movements developing ties to extremist groups. The overlap between the growing anti-vaccination movement and QAnon was noted at the time by North American and European extremism experts.
The suspects arrested Wednesday are expected to appear in court in the next few days. While the efforts of German law enforcement represent one of the most aggressive actions against a domestic terror movement in recent history, the amalgamation of beliefs and conspiracies between these movements is a testament to the borderless nature of extremism. These movements do not operate as isolated entities but as an interconnected web that nimbly evolves and seeds itself wherever it may reach — territorial borders be damned.
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