There seems to be a coup bug going around, and it’s reached pandemic-level proportions. In Peru, ex-President Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve the nation’s Congress in a throwback move that mirrored Alberto Fujimori’s 1992 self-coup. The only difference is that it failed miserably, as the police and military refused to join him. Castillo was removed from power, arrested, and now faces rebellion charges. Castillo was already facing corruption charges that prompted an impeachment vote before his coup attempt. Now, in Germany, a group of German nationalists was arrested, and their weapons seized after their alleged plot to reinstall the kaiser was unearthed (via Axios):
Authorities believe that 22 of the individuals arrested are suspected members of a "terrorist organization," while the remaining three are suspected supporters, according to a press release from Germany's federal public prosecutor.
One of the suspected supporters arrested was a Russian national.
The arrests were made after a series of raids across 11 of Germany's 16 states, as well as in Austria and Italy.
Search raids were also conducted against 27 suspected members or supporters of the organization, though these individuals were not arrested.
The big picture: The federal public prosecutor said the group was founded in November 2021 at the latest and subscribed to various conspiracy theories, including QAnon and the far-right extremist Reichsbürger movement, which denies the legitimacy of the modern German state, per the Washington Post.
The group has been planning to overthrow the current government — which it believes is controlled by the so-called "deep state" — and install a new one, headed by an individual identified as Heinrich XIII PR, the press release stated.
German media identified the man as Prince Heinrich XIII, 71, a member of the royal House of Reuss, per the Post.
Heinrich XIII PR had already contacted Russian representatives inside Germany, though investigations so far didn't indicate that he'd received any response, the federal prosecutor said.
Both coup attempts failed, though I’m not sure the German one had any chance of succeeding in the same fashion that the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had no shot at being successful. Castillo’s move in Peru was the closest to pulling over a stunt like this but failed to secure the support of the security apparatus.
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