What Next - Germany Cribs From the QAnon Playbook
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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2022
⏱️ 21 minutes
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Summary
The ReichsbĂĽrger movement is the group behind the plot to overthrow the German government that was disrupted last week. Their grievances are both specific to their country—that the German government is illegitimate and the Reich needs to be reestablished—and familiar to right-wing extremist watchers in the U.S.. They have been radicalized by lockdowns, vaccine requirements, and Qanon. How is this American conspiracy exporting itself?Â
Guest:Â Josh Keating, global security reporter at Grid focused on conflict, diplomacy, and foreign policy.
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Transcript
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| 1:04.6 | How do you prepare for a coup? Last week, after German police raided the homes of dozens of |
| 1:11.1 | alleged right-wing conspiracy theorists, we got one answer to that question. |
| 1:15.8 | We begin in Germany and major arrests in an alleged plot to overthrow the government. |
| 1:21.6 | The people who got arrested seemed to be preparing for their coup by gathering a trove of guns, |
| 1:26.9 | ammunition, tasers, and crossbows. They even had a government in waiting. A whole cabinet |
| 1:34.0 | ready to take office on a moment's notice. The rates targeted 52 people suspected of |
| 1:40.5 | plotting a violent coup against the government that was to include targeted killings of politicians |
| 1:46.1 | and senior public servants. The group behind this plot, they're known as the Reichsburger. |
| 1:51.3 | Literally, translate as citizens of the Reich. They want to undermine the modern German states. |
| 1:56.1 | They want to overthrow the government and they want to have found a state based on the German |
| 2:01.4 | empire or right from 1871. Now, this is a very fringe. Josh Keating has been following the Reichsburger |
... |
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