After a car attack on a police officer, a "Reich citizen" has to go to prison for attempted murder. The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court sentenced the 62-year-old to ten years in prison on Friday. In addition, the man had to pay the policeman, whom he had seriously injured, compensation of 30,000 euros and give up his driver's license for five years after his release from prison.
The judges saw it as proven that the perpetrator had also acted out of his ideology, according to which the law did not apply to him. The verdict comes just two days after a raid on the scene of the "Reichsbürger" and "Selbstverwalter" in which a police officer was shot.
"If you put your own fantasy legal system above the lives of other people, then that's a base motive," said Judge Roderich Martis in his verdict. The German fled from several traffic controls in February 2022 and then headed towards the police officer. He hit him with his car, drove several meters further with his victim lying on the hood, threw the man to the ground with a steering movement and drove away. The policeman suffered serious head injuries and still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He is unable to work and, according to the experts, it is not certain that he will ever be able to work again. And if so, then it's very likely that he's no longer on patrol duty, which Martis says he loved so much.
Raid against "Reich citizens" in several federal states
The now convicted carpenter from Efringen-Kirchen is the first so-called Reich citizen who has been charged by the federal prosecutor in court. On Wednesday, a search in Reutlingen escalated during the raid on the scene, which had taken place in several federal states - a police officer was injured here too. A suspected "Reich citizen" shot the SEK officer and injured his arm.
Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) later described that a frightening and perverse arsenal of weapons had been found in the building complex in Reutlingen. Strobl reported that 3,800 people in Baden-Württemberg were considered part of the "Reich Citizens" scene. This is very heterogeneous and is characterized by a high affinity for weapons. The verdict was "right and important and a clear sign of our democracy," said Strobl. He described the "Reichsbürger" scene as an "anti-state, highly dangerous and, above all, violent milieu".
The fast way to the "Reichsbürger" milieu
The path of the now convicted 62-year-old shows impressively how a person can slip into this milieu. Until 2017 he was inconspicuous, worked as a carpenter, went to a music club and was never noticed by the police. But within a few years the man had become radicalized, according to Judge Martis. In 2019 he handed in his identity card and stated to various authorities that he was now a citizen of the Grand Duchy of Baden. The German state does not exist, laws do not apply to it. The carpenter also no longer paid fines for administrative offenses.
Shortly before the verdict, the 62-year-old described his view of things that he could not remember what happened that night. He only had "lightning" memories of the shots fired by the police on his car, he was panicking. He had never had weapons and had never been violent towards people. He wanted to use two crossbows that were found on him for archery for "mental expansion". To present this to the judges, he wanted to demonstrate a qigong exercise in the hall.
Chief prosecutor sees groundbreaking verdict
But the court sees it very differently: In the spring of 2020, the man ordered a stun gun, which he never received. On the other hand, knives, a broadhead, ten working cartridges for a pistol and two crossbows with arrows were delivered. "These are all things that you don't need for relaxation exercises," said the judge. In the same year, the carpenter left the music club, lost contact with colleagues, described politicians as terrorists and police officers as "dirty cops" and "rats". When he wanted to shop without a mask during the corona pandemic and a saleswoman refused him, he kicked her in the thigh.
The 62-year-old only shakes his head at the statements, seems distraught, speaks to his lawyer. He can still appeal. The court followed the decision of the federal prosecutor and the private prosecutor. For Karin Weingast, chief public prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice, the judgment is "pioneering in dealing with criminal offenses against so-called Reich citizens".
The representative of the co-plaintiff, Patrick Steiger, said the verdict was very important for his client. He's not feeling well. "I hope that peace will now return to him, that he can concentrate on his future life."
