The background: according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the 'Reichsbürger' are said to have "planned to eliminate the state order by force," according to NDR, WDR and "Süddeutsche Zeitung." They are also said to have had access to weapons. In the raids, thousands of task forces searched more than 130 houses, apartments and offices in eleven German states since early morning. 51 people are considered accused so far, according to information from the three media, and there is said to be an arrest warrant for 25. Whether BBC, ARD or CNN - all report on the prevented coup in Germany. Is that credible?
Our assessment: The fact that a raid with 3,000 officers is being carried out against 25 suspects casts doubt on the veracity of the official information. The state did not even deploy such a large number of forces in raids against the Islamic State (IS). What is also striking in ARD's reporting is the reference to the lateral thinkers - the bashing and criminalization of Corona policy critics is coming to a head: they are now being turned into real enemies of the state. The narrative that the 25 'putschists' wanted to storm the Bundestag by force of arms is also implausible. After all, the parliament has its own police protection.
The Bundestag police responsible for this is part of the Bundestag administration in Department ZR 3 (Police and Security Tasks). The tasks are performed by - planned - 210 officers in the police executive service, of which 180 are deployed in shift work in five service groups as posts and patrols.
As of September 2019, the police force at the German Bundestag comprised 187 officers, including three in the higher service, 35 in the higher service and 149 in the intermediate service. Of the 149 mid-level officers, 30 were with the Bundestag Police as support staff for the Federal Police.
The Bundestag police work with the Berlin police on a daily basis, as well as frequently with the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police.
Two scenarios therefore seem possible:
Scenario 1. It is a politically ordered diversion, the coup plans were merely wishful thinking on the part of those arrested - but serve as a scaffold for the current narrative. And that would be very convenient for Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who has been under enormous political pressure for some time.
Scenario 2: There were serious plans for a coup, but with the participation of active units of the Bundeswehr and police. In this case, the arrest of only 25 people would be a distraction from the actual coup threat. The deployment of 3,000 officers and GSG9 would also be understandable in this scenario.