Extremist Group Leader Injured in Shootout With German Police
Former Mr. Germany Adrian Ursache and supporters tried to ward off eviction notice; two officers injured
By Zeke Turner
Aug. 25, 2016 12:06 p.m. ET
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BERLIN—The leader of a small faction of German extremists was seriously injured Thursday while trading gunfire with police as he and supporters tried to prevent an eviction order being served on the house he was living in.
Two police commandos received minor injuries.
Adrian Ursache, 41, a member of the Reichsbürger movement, which rejects the German government as illegitimate, exchanged fire with special police commandos in a village between Berlin and Leipzig, an official familiar with the situation said. He was later taken by helicopter to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, the official said.
The Reichsbürger movement, which translates as “citizens of the empire” and includes different factions across the country, rejects the modern German Federal Republic and believes that the German Empire still exists as defined by its borders from the 1930s. Members have refused to pay tax, resisted law enforcement and refused to carry official identification documents.
Around 200 special police commandos and state riot police arrived at the house of Mr. Ursache, a 1990s “Mr. Germany” pageant winner, on Thursday morning to help court marshals execute an eviction notice stemming from unpaid debt on the property.
The court marshals attempted to clear the house on Wednesday, but they were attacked with a hail of cobblestones and other projectiles, according to police spokeswoman Ulrike Diener.
Two police commandos were lightly injured during Thursday’s mission, including one from Mr. Ursache’s gunfire. The second injured officer suffered a bite wound from one of 13 supporters who gathered to help defend the house.
“They were informed about the eviction in advance,” said Ms. Diener. “They had time to get their supporters together, and they were prepared.”
Police weren't aware that there was a gun in the house before they arrived, she added.
The state’s Office of Criminal Investigation along with local police were at the house on Thursday afternoon trying to reconstruct the day’s events.
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