Police action on pensioners: Changes to the controversial Reich Citizens' Decree!

Police action on pensioners: Changes to the controversial Reich Citizens' Decree!

What a bizarre case from Baden-Württemberg! After a controversial police operation, the country's finance ministry is now planning to make adjustments to its "Reich Citizens' Decree". The occasion? A pensioner from Heddesheim who complained about a fee of 9.50 euros due to a late tax return. He included a remarkable cartoon showing a duel scene in which a man is shot. This representation led to the responsible tax office in Weinheim being alerted, which classified the letter as suspicious and called in the police. SWR reports that ...

The spokesman for the Ministry of Finance admits that the reaction went overboard. Ultimately, the Reichsbürger scene is threatened not only in Baden-Württemberg, but nationwide. Tax offices in particular are often in contact with real “Reich citizens” who are not particularly squeamish when it comes to their claims. The decree, which has been in force since 2022, was introduced to respond to incidents such as the one in which a “Reichsbürger” shot at police officers. In the future, changes will primarily affect the “suspect passage” in order to deal with such cases more sensitively and in a more measured manner.

Reich Citizens – A Growing Threat

But what exactly makes the Reichsbürger scene so dangerous? Until the mid-2010s, this phenomenon was hardly noticed in Germany. But in 2016, that suddenly changed when two violent incidents caused a stir: in Reuden, Saxony-Anhalt, an eviction failed and ended in a gunshot, while in Georgensgmünd, Bavaria, a man fired at police officers, which tragically led to the death of a police officer. According to current estimates, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution counts around 25,000 sovereignists in Germany, around 10% of whom are considered to be violent. bpb informs about...

A survey shows that 16% of respondents with sovereignty leanings support violence to achieve their political goals. These numbers also explain the increase in politically motivated crimes among Reich citizens, which rose from 776 in 2018 to 1,358 in 2022. Such developments not only raise worrying questions about social stability, but also highlight how important it is to identify and combat potential radicalization factors at an early stage.

Send political signals

Meanwhile, Danyal Bayaz, a prominent politician from the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg, is also active and is getting people talking. Coming from the CDU, Bayaz is passionate about current issues, such as the recent problem of parking in Stuttgart, where he caused a few laughs with a joke about parking on top of other cars. He is also in demand on talk shows and is not afraid to express his opinions on social media. Kontext reports on...

While the case of the pensioner from Heddesheim proves to be an example of the independence and radicalization within the Reich citizen scene, it remains to be seen how the Ministry of Finance will implement the desired adjustments. However, one thing is certain: the challenges posed by this movement are great and require a keen sense on the part of the authorities.