 Later in the same year the "Identitäre Bewegung Österreich" was founded by Martin Sellner, Patrick Lenart, and Alexander Markovics among others.The first nation-wide media presence occurred in May 2013 as a reaction to the Identitarian so-called counter-occupation of the Votive Church in Vienna against protesting asylum seekers.On 27 April 2018, several facilities of the Identitarian Movement were searched by the Austrian police, and investigations were started against its leader Martin Sellner on suspicion that a criminal organization was being formed.