Exclusive
As of: 04/26/2022 4:26 p.m
New details in the case of the “United Patriots”, who apparently wanted to kidnap Health Minister Lauterbach: A suspect appeared as a Putin supporter and loudly confessed Report Mainz to coup plans. The Attorney General is investigating.
The main suspect is Sven B. from Falkensee in Brandenburg: At a demonstration against the corona measures in Kassel in March 2021, B. said in front of the camera: “We want to get rid of this system!” Report Mainz the interview is available exclusively.
“Putin’s Fan Club”
On that day, B. wore the so-called St. George ribbon and an orange and black striped flag on his chest. Both are symbols of the National Liberation Movement of Russia. According to the journalist and right-wing extremism expert Andrea Röpke, behind the self-proclaimed movement is a “Putin fan club that wants to cause unrest in Europe.” In addition, the group is close to the ideas of the Reich Citizens’ Movement. The German offshoot of the National Liberation Movement has denied the allegations Report Mainz return.
Corona deniers
Sven B. belongs to the five-member core group of the “United Patriots”, which is said to have planned, among other things, a coup and the kidnapping of Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach. In his house in Falkensee, Brandenburg, investigators found a Kalashnikov about two weeks ago, among other things. B. is said to have been one of the key planners and organizers of the group, as was Thomas O. from Neustadt an der Weinstrasse in Rhineland-Palatinate.
After research by Report Mainz O. has been active in numerous Telegram groups for about two years, where protests against the Corona policy are concerned. He compared the measures to a dictatorship, and the pandemic was a declaration of war. In addition, O. spread conspiracy legends in the chats.
Haldenwang: “Hate for state institutions”
Since the pandemic, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has observed more and more frequently that Reich citizens, opponents of the corona policy and supporters of conspiracy theories, among others, are networking. These scenes also wanted to act together, said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, in an interview Report Mainz. What unites these groups is a deep disenchantment with the state. “In some cases, I would say hatred of state institutions,” says Haldenwang. He expects that there will continue to be topics in the future where groups of this kind can get together and radicalise.
About two weeks ago, investigators smashed the “United Patriots” in a nationwide coordinated action. Five men are said to belong to the core group, four of them are in custody. The group is said to have networked via Telegram.
Federal prosecutor’s office takes over investigations
The federal prosecutor’s office has taken over the investigation into the suspected establishment of a terrorist organization. This was preceded by extensive investigative measures by the General Prosecutor’s Office in Koblenz and the State Criminal Police Office in Rhineland-Palatinate, as the Federal Prosecutor announced.
In connection with the arrest of the accused, there were sufficient indications that they could have founded a terrorist organization or acted as members of such an organization, it said. Thomas O. and Sven B. are also suspected of attempting to participate in a crime.
When will the Attorney General investigate?
According to the law, the Federal Public Prosecutor General in Karlsruhe, as the highest federal prosecutor, is always responsible when there is a suspicion of a “terrorist organization” (Section 129a of the Criminal Code). This means: It must be a group of at least three people – with a solid structure and the common goal of committing crimes such as murder, kidnapping or hostage-taking.
Frank Groom, ARD legal expert
Planned kidnapping of Lauterbach
According to the current status of the investigation, there is a suspicion “that the accused belonged to a group that had set itself the goal of triggering conditions similar to civil war in Germany and thus ultimately bringing about the fall of the federal government and parliamentary democracy,” according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
Accordingly, the group planned to cause a nationwide “blackout” by damaging or destroying power supply facilities. In addition, Minister of Health Lauterbach should be “violently kidnapped, possibly also killing his bodyguards”.