Acts of Terrorism megathread

[HVC]

I heard not a terrorist just a nutter?
Sad though. Even stabbed a baby.

So he was white?

[Zanza]

Three Spanish tourists killed by terrorists. In Afghanistan. 

[Valmy]

Three Spanish tourists killed by terrorists. In Afghanistan. 

I mean...I hate to blame the victim here...

[DGuller]

Were they staying in an all-inclusive resort, or did they venture out?

[Admiral Yi]

 

[grumbler]

Three Spanish tourists killed by terrorists. In Afghanistan. 

I mean...I hate to blame the victim here...

Darwin Award candidates?

[Zanza]

'Slightly crazy' German group on trial for coup plot

It's an alleged coup plot featuring a German aristocrat, a "massive arsenal" of weapons and the belief that Queen Elizabeth II's death might have been a secret "signal" to act.

The trial of nine men and women allegedly connected to the so-called Reichsbürger movement got under way on Tuesday with those accused of being ringleaders appearing before judges.

Prosecutors say they hatched a conspiracy to violently overthrow the German government and accuse them of being members of a "terrorist organisation".

Investigators say the plotters had planned to storm the Reichstag and that they were conspiracy theorists who believed the country was being run by a "deep state".

The "council" was to act as the central body while a "military arm" – consisting of 286 units – would have enforced the new order nationwide.

Prosecutors say the group had access to a "massive arsenal" of weapons including firearms, ammunition as well as night vision devices and handcuffs.

The association also had financial resources of around 500,000 euros, according to the indictment.

Over time, members are said to have become "increasingly isolated" from the outside world.

Jan Rathje, a senior researcher at the extremism monitoring agency CeMAS, says conspiratorial, sovereigntist movements can be dated back to a wish by some former Nazis to re-establish a National Socialist German Reich.

He says that the Reichsbürger movement, which has a violent, far-right tradition, has been dangerously underestimated.

"People always thought these were crazy people just writing crazy letters to the government," he adds.

Mr Rathje says that even though the alleged coup attempt would likely not have succeeded, people still could have been seriously hurt.

"On a symbolic level, this would have been a success for these radical forces because they would have struck against the government in a violent way and this might promote the idea that the government is weak."

The trials – split into three because of the case's size – are taking place in Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich.

A terrorist group accused of preparation of high treason on trial in Germany. They believed in a bizarre mix of sovereigntist and Qanon bullshit. Reichsbürger believe that the current German republic is illegitimate and that the Reich somehow still exists.