Extremism Interior Minister: 3,400 people belong to the "Reichsbürger" scene in NRW

Düsseldorf · According to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the security authorities estimate that around 3,400 people in North Rhine-Westphalia belong to the “Citizens of the Reich" and "self-governing" scene.

 Herbert Reul (CDU), Interior Minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Herbert Reul (CDU), Interior Minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Foto: dpa/Rolf Vennenbernd

According to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the security authorities believe that around 3,400 people in North Rhine-Westphalia belong to the “Citizens of the Reich" and "self-governing" scene. Current findings indicate that the vast majority are not entrenched in established organizational structures, but the scene nevertheless has a "considerable potential for danger" and a potential readiness to commit "serious acts of violence”. Police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in NRW are monitoring the scene very closely, Reul told the Interior Committee of the state parliament in Düsseldorf.

"Right-wing terrorism" will be pursued by the state "rigorously." The dangerous thing, according to Reul, is that several of the scenes intermingle, connect and network. This could give rise to solid organizational structures or ties that plan acts of violence or intend to overthrow the rule of law. He said that there was "zero tolerance" on these issues.

In addition to right-wing extremists, conspiracy ideologues or theories, and unruly state deniers, according to NRW's head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Jürgen Kayser, the so-called “Reichsbürger” scene also includes people from the middle class, Covid deniers, and movements such as the United Patriots. Reul spoke of a "mixed scene." The majority of the 3,400 people lacked organizational ties, but that did not make them any less dangerous. 185 of them are said to be right-wing extremists. "For every bizarre mind there is another bizarre mind out there that fits," Reul said.

One topic raised in his report in the Interior Committee was the arming of those in the scene. According to security authorities, 123 people from the "Reichsbürger" scene in NRW have a firearms license (authorizing a person to carry the weapons registered to it), while 37 even have a weapons possession card (a permit for the acquisition and possession of weapons requiring a permit in the Federal Republic). 118 people who have a firearms license have been or are being checked. The revocation procedures are still ongoing for the most part. "Anyone who is a "Reichsbürger" must not be allowed to own a weapon," demanded FDP parliamentary group leader Marc Lürbke.

Last week, there had been a nationwide raid on the "Reichsbürger" scene with quite a few searches and many arrests. However, NRW was not a focal point; only three properties belonging to two people were searched here. Among them was a policewoman from the Minden-Lübbcke district, whose apartment and workplace were searched. She is listed as an accused in the proceedings and has been suspended from duty.

"Reich citizens" are people who do not recognize the German Federal Republic and its democratic structures. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimates that the scene has around 21,000 followers nationwide.

(Original text: dpa; Translation: ck)

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