When Conspiracies Get Comedic: The Coup Trial of Maximilian Eder
Gather ’round, gather ’round! It seems that the circus has rolled into Frankfurt, and it’s not the one with the clowns and the cotton candy. No, this time it’s about a cast of characters including ex-soldier Maximilian Eder, embroiled in what might be the most inept coup plot since a bunch of toddlers tried to overthrow nap time. As if life wasn’t absurd enough during the pandemic, we now have a trial that makes Monty Python look low-budget.
A Coup or Just Irate Commentary?
Now, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court is scrutinizing some rather spirited videos of our alleged coup planner, Mr. Eder. And let me tell you, if public speaking were an Olympic sport, his routines would score a solid ten—ten on the cringe scale! In a video from November 2022, Eder claims, “We can shake up our political system.” But mate, it’d be easier to shake up a bottle of soda before opening it—it’s just going to explode!
He rants about justice needing a “do-over” and blames politicians for crimes against humanity due to their handling of the pandemic. I don’t know about you, but calling vaccination policies “genocide” is a bit like someone claiming I committed “murder” because I threw their spaghetti in the bin. I mean, it’s pasta, not a federal offense!
Speeches to the Sceptical
In another belly-laugh-worthy clip, he proudly declares that the “bullying of the population must stop,” much like how I’m sure his mum chastised him for hogging the remote. And in a delightful twist, he predicts that certain politicians will be heading toward “The Hague or towards Nuremberg 2.0.” Can you imagine? “Excuse me, your honour—what’s the charge?” “Well, it’s a bit complicated, but he suggested the politicians should go on a European tour… for war crimes!”
Defenders or Stand-Up Comedians?
Meanwhile, Eder’s defenders are playing the “nothing to see here” card, claiming it’s just harmless “politician bashing.” Harmless? This isn’t some benign roast at the local pub. Still, they insist that everything remains peaceful and non-violent. I mean, who doesn’t think raising a pitchfork while gabbing about “shaking up” the system is peaceful? It’s practically a picnic!
One defense attorney does raise an eyebrow at the whole affair, suggesting that proclamations of a caliphate are far more dangerous than Eder’s stunt doubles. Right, because everyone knows that riding the “conspiracy wave” has a strict set of safety regulations!
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office Gets Serious
But in a dramatic twist that even an underwhelming soap opera would find riveting, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office is not laughing. They allege Eder and his merry band of misfits had been plotting to violently overthrow the existing state order since August 2021. Now that’s some serious business! One has to wonder if they were using crayons to craft their coup plan—working through the kinks in the “stabby bits” of their strategy.
So, as I sit here grappling with the absurdity of it all, I’m left wondering: Perhaps everyone’s focusing on the wrong issue here. Instead of a coup, maybe they just need a good open mic night to Air Their Grievances. It might be more enlightening, and for everyone’s sake, far less criminal!
Stay tuned, folks! This trial promises more twists and turns than an episode of “Game of Thrones” but with much less nuanced character development. Who knew a simple pandemic could lead to such a complex comedy of errors?
PressSplit
The nine defendants – including Maximilian Eder – are said to have planned a coup. (Archive photo) © Boris Roessler/dpa
Plans for a coup or harmless criticism of Corona measures? Videos of a defendant are shown at the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court. For the defenders the matter is clear.
Frankfurt/Main – In the trial of the alleged “Reich citizens” surrounding Henry XIII. Prince Reuß, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court dealt with videos of the accused ex-soldier Maximilian Eder. In these, Eder castigates the measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We can shake up our political system. It’s not against the system – it’s against those who abuse the system,” says Eder in a video published in November 2022, in which he sits in Tarnfleck in the Bavarian Forest. It will be settled with “a justice system that needs to be renewed”.
Politicians responsible for the Corona measures should voluntarily abdicate and disappear or face justice. “These were crimes against humanity,” says Eder in the video, calls the vaccination policy a genocide and announces a different political system before Christmas 2022: “We will transform this dark Germany, which we are currently experiencing in the name of Corona, into a light Germany.”
Speeches at Corona demonstrations
A second video shows Eder at a meeting against the Corona measures in Munich. As a speaker, he demands: “This bullying of the population must stop.” What politicians are doing against children, young people and the elderly is “against all human dignity.” At a demonstration in Baden-Baden in April 2022, he predicted Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Green Party leader Ricarda Lang: “Everyone will move towards The Hague or towards Nuremberg 2.0, we will come up with something Eder is referring to the Nuremberg trials of 1945/1946 against those responsible for the Nazi regime.
Defenders emphasize peaceful attitudes
Defense attorneys for the defendants expressed a lack of understanding as to why these videos were being shown. The statements are not punishable, they are harmless “politician bashing”. Some referred to the premise explicitly mentioned by Eder in some videos: “Everything should remain peaceful, we remain non-violent.” Prince Reuss’ defense attorney Roman von Alvensleben asked whether they were taking part in a political trial. He had seen videos about the proclamation of a caliphate that were more dangerous to the state than the Eder videos.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has accused the nine defendants in Frankfurt of being members of or supporting a terrorist organization. The aim was to violently eliminate the existing state order and replace it with its own form of government that had already been worked out in its basic outline. According to the indictment, the association is said to have planned and specifically prepared a coup from August 2021.
