German police have foiled a plot by anti-vaccination activists to murder the state premier of Saxony in eastern Germany, they said on Wednesday, as concerns grow over an increasingly violent pushback against COVID-19 vaccination plans.
The plot to kill Michael Kretschmer is the latest in a series of incidents that underscore the anger of some Germans over restrictions on the unvaccinated and plans to make vaccinations compulsory for the general population.
Saxony has one of Germany’s highest levels of COVID-19 infection but also its lowest vaccination rate. It is a stronghold of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which harbours many vaccine sceptics and anti-lockdown protesters.
Members of a group called “Dresden Offlinevernetzung”, or ‘Dresden offline network’, had suggested in a chat on messaging platform Telegram that they might be in possession of firearms and crossbows, Saxony police said on Twitter.
The investigation targeted six suspects – five men and a woman – aged between 32 and 64, Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that several pieces of evidence had been found, including crossbows.
