Belgium is looking for an armed far-right soldier who threatened to kill the country's star virologist

Belgium is desperately looking for an armed, radicalized man who has threatened to kill virologist Marc Van Ranst, the country's great Covid-19 specialist and a permanent figure in the media since the outbreak of the pandemic..

The suspect, identified as Jurgen Conings, is 46 years old.. He is a male, white, military by profession, close to the extreme right, who was already on a list of possible terrorist threats and who has fled heavily armed. The “hunt” began on Monday, when a relative called 911 after finding two farewell letters at his Lanklaar home.. One of them was addressed to his girlfriend. In the other, Conings wrote that he could not continue living “in a society where politicians and virologists have taken everything from us”, for which he announced “that he would join the resistance and would not give up without a fight”, according to the newspaper 'De Standard'.

He did not return that day after finishing a work shift and has not been seen since.. The Police have found his car, an Audi Q5, abandoned and without license plates near a forest, in the town of Dilsen-Stokkem, in Limburg. In it, according to local media, heavy weapons were found, including a rocket launcher.. Pistols, machine guns and a bulletproof vest were missing from the armory of his barracks, collected under the pretext of target practice and program maneuvers.. “The arsenal of weapons it has is enough for a small war,” said the Police. The most dangerous, presumably the rocket launchers, have been recovered, but it is believed to still be heavily armed and with plenty of ammunition..

Van Ranst and his family have been escorted by security forces to a secret location. The virologist, a professor at the University of Leuven, has received many threats in recent months, as have figures with a similar presence in other countries.. It is the same or more media than Fernando Simón in Spain or Anthony Fauci, the person in charge of the US and who has been moving with an escort since the beginning of last year. The Belgian is a renowned figure, enormously popular, especially in Flanders. His face is well known and there are thousands of jokes about his interventions or jokes about his wide repertoire of colored sweaters, with which he usually appears on the sets.. Aware of the threats, he had refused an escort, but a patrol of agents constantly watched his home.

Conings would have made him the target of his anger, like other groups that deny the virus or that hold him responsible for the confinement measures in the country. The Police have found emails, messages on social networks and some letters handwritten by the military. “There are fears that he may carry out a violent action, against himself or against others, but the possible correct targets are not yet clear,” prosecutor Eric Van Duyse explained..

The neighbors have explained to the Flemish media that the suspect was known in the neighborhood. “Big but friendly”, according to the testimonies collected by Nieuwsblad. “We knew he had far-right sympathies.. He also organized a neighborhood watch through a WhatsApp group with which we could notify each other of suspicious movements.. We have never heard him say anything bad about Marc Van Ranst or virologists.. We knew that he was in the military and that he was really into fitness and bodybuilding.. He has also been to Afghanistan several times,” say his street neighbors. During the pandemic, he offered to give gym classes to neighbors in local parks. On his Facebook profile there are photos and videos of training sessions, dragging tractor tires or tree trunks, climbing ropes and ladders and lifting weights..

Two years under surveillance

The suspect was questioned by the Police last July after being identified for his attacks and threatening messages against the virologist and some political leaders on social networks.. He was released without charge, but his name was placed on a list of possible terrorist threats, and when the weapons disappeared from the barracks, the alarms went off.. There are clear records of his rants against immigration, Islam, the construction of mosques and political leaders.. He also regularly spread all kinds of conspiracy theories. It was not hidden and the maximum of which there is evidence is an administrative sanction.

In a repetition of the scandalous security failures prior to the jihadist attacks of 2016, the country is wondering today how it is possible that the soldier continued in the Army despite spending two years under surveillance. The OCAD, the body that manages risk and threats to public safety, warned about it in 2019 and requested special control. They knew of his sympathies with extreme right-wing groups, since about 30 soldiers are currently being investigated and he was one of them.. But there was also evidence of recent specific threats. And even so, he continued in his position and with access to heavy weapons.

Both the Army and OCAD had evidence of links between Jurgen Conings and Thomas Boutens, a far-right guru in Flanders. Boutens, also a former military officer, was convicted in 2014 as a leader of the neo-Nazi group Blood, Soil, Honor and Faith (BBET), which the court considers a terrorist organization. Boutens has posted a message of support on social media for his fugitive “brother in arms.” “Wherever you are, you are not alone, even if it is in a world that spits on the faithful.”