German state premier targeted in ‘anti-vaxxer murder plot,’ police say

German police revealed this week that anti-vaccination activists constructed a plot to murder German state premier Michael Kretschmer.

Police made the announcement on Wednesday, detailing that the group Dresden Offlinevernetzung made plans to kill Kretschmer, who is the primer of Saxony. The German state also reportedly has the highest COVID-19 infection rates and lowest vaccination rates in the nation, according to Reuters.

Members of the group allegedly created a group chat on the messaging platform Telegram to discuss possible possession of firearms and crossbows.

Police said that their “initial suspicion” of five targeted suspects “was confirmed” after conducting several searches of sites in Dresden and Heidenau, Reuters reported.

Doctors, journalists and politicians have been among those attacked in Germany in past weeks as protests against vaccines have become increasingly violent, the news outlet noted.

More than a dozen German politicians, media outlets and establishments have reportedly received threatening letters over the new coronavirus restrictions.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who took office last week, announced in his Wednesday address that the German government is actively working against the violent protests, Reuters noted.

“We will not put up with a tiny minority of uninhibited extremists trying to force their will on our entire society,” Scholz reportedly said.