The second of three trials related to the alleged 2022 plot to attack Germany's parliament and take over the government began Tuesday. Nine defendants, including aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, stand accused.
The defendants, who belong to a right-wing group called German Reichsbürger, also include Heinrich XIII's Russian girlfriend, a former policeman, and a former judge-turned-member of parliament (MP) for the right-wing AfD party.
While many in the Reichsbürger movement are not extremists, those at the tip of this conspiratorial iceberg are driven by racism, antisemitism, and a desire to bring Germany back to the past through violent means. Their hatred is most troubling when linked to their anti-government sentiment, which prompted them to arm themselves in preparation for a violent coup d'état.
One of the men the police spied on in connection with the alleged coup plot was the former head of Germany's intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, who was fired in 2018 after disagreeing with former liberal Chancellor Angela Merkel. What's worse is that police spied on Massen's protected communications with his legal client. The government is using this story to target its political opponents.