The recent anti-lockdown protests have seen many different groups take to the streets to decry the government’s efforts to curb the pandemic. However, right-wing extremists could use the protest movement for their own ends, the head of Germany’s domestic security agency BfV, Thomas Haldenwang, said on Tuesday.
“Right-wing extremists and Reichsbürger [members] succeeded in occupying a resonant space, creating powerful images and thus exploiting the heterogeneous protest events,” Haldenwang told the DPA news agency.
The 60-year-old lawyer has served as the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, since November 2018.
Read more: German government slams Reichstag far-right rush as ‘shameful’
Authorities’ concerns about the protests appeared to have been confirmed, added Haldenwang.
Police had initially banned the anti-coronavirus lockdown protests on safety grounds. They were also concerned protesters would not obey social-distancing and coronavirus health guidelines.
But the rally went ahead in Berlin on Saturday after the police ban was overruled by a last-minute court ruling. Some 38,000 protesters attended.
During the protests, around 300 to 400 protesters rushed the steps of the Reichstag building, where the lower house of Germany’s parliament convenes.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
What do Reichsbürger believe?
“Reichsbürger” translates to “citizens of the Reich.” The nebulous movement rejects the modern German state, and insists that the German Empire’s 1937 or 1871 borders still exist and the modern country is an administrative construct still occupied by Allied powers. For Reichsbürger, the government, parliament, judiciary and security agencies are puppets installed and controlled by foreigners.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
What do they do?
The Reichsbürger refuse to pay taxes or fines. They see their personal property, such as their houses, as independent entities outside the authority of the Federal Republic of Germany, and reject the German constitution and other legal texts, but also swamp German courts with lawsuits. They produce their own aspirational documents such as passports and driving licenses.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
How much of a threat are they?
The Reichsbürger scene began to develop in the 1980s and is a disparate, leaderless movement that has grown to about 19,000 supporters, according to German intelligence officials. Of those, about 950 have been identified as far-right extremists and at least 1,000 have a license to own firearms. Many subscribe to anti-Semitic ideologies.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
Who are its members? One was Mr. Germany
According to German authorities, the average Reichsbürger is 50 years old, male, and is socially and financially disadvantaged. The movement’s members are concentrated in the southern and eastern parts of Germany. Adrian Ursache, a former winner of the Mister Germany beauty pageant, is also a Reichsbürger and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2019 for shooting and injuring a policeman.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
Turning point
The case of Wolfgang P., who in October 2017 was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a police officer, is seen as a turning point for how German authorities deal with the extremist group. P., an alleged Reichsbürger member, shot at officers who were raiding his home to confiscate weapons. The case gained international attention and set off alarm bells over the escalation of violence.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
What are the authorities doing about it?
German authorities were accused of long underestimating the threat. In 2017 for the first time Germany’s domestic intelligence service documented extremist crimes perpetrated by individual Reichsbürger. Since then there have been several raids on Reichsbürger targets and subgroups have been banned. Police and military have also probed whether they have Reichsbürger in their own ranks.
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The Reichsbürger movement in Germany
International parallels, conspiracy theories
Reichsbürger have been seen waving Russian flags, leading to allegations that they are funded by Russia with the aim to destabilize the German government. Germany’s Reichsbürger are also compared to US groups such as “freemen-on-the-land,” who believe that they are bound only by laws they consent to and can therefore declare themselves independent of the government and the rule of law.
Author: Samantha Early, Rina Goldenberg
Warnings were unheeded
The BfV has repeatedly warned that right-wing extremists could try to take the lead in the “very diverse demonstrations,” Haldenwang commented to DPA.
Haldenwang’s office had noted “increased mobilization by right-wing extremists” both before and during the demonstrations.
The agency has noted various right-wing groups at the rally, including the New Right, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) affiliated Young Alternatives — that has officially disbanded — as well as Reichsbürger members.
“We are observing closely whether the right-wing amalgamation takes on an even larger dimension and whether these actors are becoming capable of connecting with each other,” Haldenwang told DPA.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-extremists-could-hijack-coronavirus-protests-warns-bfv-head/a-54783070?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom