German police fight alleged murder plot by anti-vaccination extremists: Coronavirus Update: NPR
Police stand in front of protesters during a demonstration by the German “Querdenker” (Party Thinkers) movement in November, in Leipzig, eastern Germany.
Stringer / AFP via Getty Images
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Stringer / AFP via Getty Images
Police stand in front of protesters during a demonstration by the German “Querdenker” (Party Thinkers) movement in November, in Leipzig, eastern Germany.
Stringer / AFP via Getty Images
German police seized weapons during raids in the eastern cities of Dresden and Heidenau on Wednesday in connection with an alleged plot by extremist anti-vaccination activists to kill the governor of Saxony. .
According to police, members of a group calling themselves “Dresden Offlinevernetzung”, or offline network Dresden, discussed the killing of state premier Michael Kretschmer on the Telegram online platform.
Both Dresden and the small nearby town of Heidenau are located in the country’s Saxony state, which was once part of communist East Germany. This region has the lowest vaccine rate and highest number of COVID-19 infections in the country.
Police said they targeted five members of the Telegram group and, after searching the websites, “initial suspicions have been confirmed.”
A spokesman for the Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA) said five residences and one workplace were searched and police confiscated weapons, weapon parts and crossbows, according to a statement. Suddeutsche Zeitung.
The raids that followed Demonstration against the new COVID-19 restrictions and plans to mandate vaccinations for people working in hospitals, nursing homes and other health facilities starting in March. The protests are supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which organizes significantly supported in Saxony, according to Deutsche Welle.
The alleged conspiracy against Kretschmer also followed death threats against other German politicians over COVID-19 policies, as well as leader in infectious diseases of the country.
Almost 107,000 people in Germany have died since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and since the end of October the country has seen a significant increase in the number of infections and deaths from the virus. .
In his first important speech before the German Parliament, the House of Commons, Prime Minister Olaf Scholz said the country was fed up with anti-vaccine agents.
“We will not create an uninhibited radical minority that tries to force their will on our entire society,” he said.
A version of this story originally appeared in Morning Edition’s live blog.
