On Wednesday, the German state deployed 3000 police officers in order to carry out raids and arrest 25 people, in different states of the FRG, Austria and Italy, with 8 the most in Baden Württemberg. 23 are in custody and 22 are accused of being members of a terrorist organization.
The so-called "Reichsbürger" (Reich-citizens) are a deeply reactionary group, which claims that the German Reich still continues to exist, they reject the constitution of Weimar in 1919, as well as all subsequent constitutions. They claim that Germany is still occupied by the occupying powers after the Second World War and must be "liberated", the "German Reich should be for the Germans". They are an expression of the fascist tendency within the bourgeois state with the corresponding eclecticism with which they help themselves to conspiracy theories as it serves them. They organize themselves, among other things, by living on properties in parallel societies, such as the "Kingdom of Germany" and want to prepare a fascist coup by forming their own police and military arm and therefore put special focus on recruiting people from the army or the special forces.
In doing so, however, they repeatedly go overboard and often they pretend that the laws of the FRG do not exist and, for example, they often resist police. In 2017 one of them shot a cop from the SEK (police special forces) and injured two others.
We have already written in the past that the German state tolerates ultra-reactionaries and fascists to a certain extent, especially within police and military and only takes action against them when there is a risk that they will act too soon. The FRG has an interest in keeping these forces organized to a certain extentas a reserve in order to be able to switch to a fascist government ifGerman capital needs it. It does not act consistently against them, but only relegates them back into their ranks. So also in this case at least one of the targets was warned, as far as we know. Of course, it may be that all of them knew. Maximilian Eder, a retired army colonel, went on vacation for the raid and told his neighbor over the phone how to behave in case of police interrogation. In the meantime we know that multiple media companies knew up to two weeks up front of the action, the times and names of the targets, so they would be able to televise it. In light of this it is quite improbable that not all of the arrested were informed about the raid.
It must be clear: the German state does not act out of principle against these ultra-reactionary elements, but solely because they go further than it serves it in this moment.
