Crackdown on Reichsbuerger: Germany's Battle Against 'Kingdom of Germany' Militant Group

German police launched raids across multiple states following a government ban on the hard-right Reichsbuerger militant group. The group's 6,000 members are accused of forming a 'counter-state' and spreading antisemitic conspiracies. Authorities have monitored them since a deadly 2016 incident involving a member.

In an extensive crackdown, hundreds of police officers executed raids across Germany on Tuesday morning. This comes after the interior ministry announced a ban on the hard-right Reichsbuerger militant group, considered the largest faction of the movement known as the 'Citizens of the Reich'.

The raids, conducted in seven federal states, targeted properties linked to the Koenigreich Deutschland (Kingdom of Germany) group and homes of its leaders. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that the group's 6,000 members had established a 'counter-state' in Germany, challenging both legal systems and the state's exclusive right to enforce law and order.

Dobrindt highlighted that the group supports their alleged authority with antisemitic conspiracy theories. The ban order preceded the raids, with Germany's domestic intelligence agency observing the Reichsbuerger movement since 2016, after a member fatally shot a police officer during a home raid.

(With inputs from agencies.)