Suspected neo-Nazi charged with plotting German ‘race war’

German federal prosecutors say they have charged a suspected neo-Nazi with attempting to set off a “race war” in Germany with planned attacks using explosives and guns.

A week after authorities swooped on alleged far-right militant cells in raids across Germany, the federal prosecutor’s office names the suspect only as Marvin E. and says he has been in detention since September 2021.

Marvin E., whose age is not provided but who was a minor at the time, now faces charges of attempting to form a terrorist organization, as well as preparation of a grievous seditious attack and various weapons law violations.

Prosecutors say in a statement that he “shares the ideology” of Atomwaffen Division (Atomic Weapons Division, AWD), an international neo-Nazi terrorist network founded in 2015 in the United States.

Marvin E. intended from the summer of 2021 to launch “a civil race war” over the next three years “to preserve the white population,” they say. He is believed to have researched the acquisition of firearms and built “unconventional” bombs with components bought online, while seeking to start his own local chapter of AWD and recruit members.

AWD is believed to espouse “racist, antisemitic and National Socialist views” and plot attacks against Jews, Muslims and other purported enemies with an aim of destabilizing Western democratic states.