Four Germans arrested in plot to kidnap health minister, cause blackout

In a story eerily similar to the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, four Germans have been accused of planning to cause a nationwide blackout and kidnap well-known figures, including the country’s health minister. In the Whitmer case, two of six accused pleaded guilty, two were acquitted, and there was a hung jury for the other two.

Just like with the Whitmer case, the four Germans who were arrested were part of a protest movement against COVID-19 restrictions. However, the German suspects were also allegedly part of the Reich Citizens movement, which disputes the legitimacy of the post-World War II German constitution and, by extension, the current government.

Authorities said the group’s declared aim was to destroy electricity supply facilities and cause a long blackout across the country. The goal would have been to produce “conditions similar to civil war” and ultimately overthrow the country’s democratic system.

“The latest developments show a deep abyss. We are dealing with serious terrorist attack planning,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Thursday. “We must say that the kidnapping plans and also the subversion plans are a new quality [of threat], against which the rule of law must now act with all its force.”

The most well-known of the alleged kidnapping targets is German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. On Thursday, Lauterbach said he was “appalled” by the news of the arrests.

“The whole thing shows that corona protests have not just become more radical, but that it is now about more than corona — that there is an attempt here to destabilize the state,” Lauterbach told reporters. “This is a small minority in our society, but highly dangerous.”

Lauterback added the alleged plot to kidnap him “will not influence my own work.”

The plan to kidnap the health minister is the latest in a series of incidents that underscore the anger of some Germans over COVID-19 restrictions. In December, German police foiled a plot by anti-vaccination activists to murder the state premier of Saxony in eastern Germany.