The German government on Tuesday banned the far-right organization “Kingdom of Germany” as a threat to the country’s democratic order and arrested four of its leaders in raids across several states

The group is part of the country’s so-called Reich Citizen, or Reichsbürger, movement that claims the historical German Reich still exists and refuses to recognize the current democratic government or its parliament, laws and courts. Members also refuse to pay taxes or fines

About 800 police officers launched raids Tuesday on the group’s properties and the homes of its leading members throughout the country

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, in announcing the ban on the group, said its members have underpinned their claims to power using antisemitic conspiracy narratives that cannot be tolerated

“The members of this association have created a ‘counter-state’ in our country and built up economic criminal structures,” Dobrindt said. “We will take decisive action against those who attack our free democratic basic order”

Among those arrested Tuesday was the group leader Peter Fitzek. He proclaimed the “Kingdom of Germany” in the eastern town of Wittenberg in 2012 and says it has around 6,000 followers, though the Interior Ministry says it has about 1,000 members The group claims to have seceded from the German federal government