German authorities conducted over a dozen raids on Friday against individuals suspected of organizing a right-wing extremist training camp in the eastern state of Thuringia. Prosecutor Steffen Flieger said one of the 13 suspects resisted the raid in his home and attacked officers who were trying to conduct it, resulting in his arrest. Several suspects are members of an international right-wing extremist group, but Flieger said he could not name the organization due to data protection considerations.
German authorities have been conducting an increasing number of raids against right-wing extremist groups in recent months. In January, police searched a dozen locations associated with a group accused of plotting to attack police officers, asylum seekers and Jews.
Friday's raids in Goettingen and Thuringia were conducted by state and federal police, as well as members of the GSG9, a counterterrorism, hostage rescue and special operations police unit.
German police conducted nationwide raids against Reichsbürgers throughout the week. There were also several raids against the disseminators of so-called "hate commentaries." A total of 23 police departments were deployed in 14 federal states. German police carried out raids on apartments and other properties believed to belong to right-wing extremists. A member of Reichsbürger and two politically motivated perpetrators are under investigation.
The extremist group known as Reichsbürger is considered a terrorist organization in Germany where its members procure arms and ammunition. Members of the movement do not recognize the modern German state or its laws, rather believing that the former German Reich still exists. Members of the Reichsbürger group refuse to acknowledge the constitutional German state, refusing to pay any state taxes or fines. They continue to follow the laws of the Third Reich and believe in the German borders of the 1930s.
