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Several German leaders denounced this Sunday (08.30.2020) the “attack on democracy” after the attempt to assault the national Parliament during the “anticorona” demonstration, which marked a new stage in the radicalization of the movement.
The images on Saturday night of hundreds of protesters trying to force the barriers and the police cordon to climb the steps of the famous Reichstag building in Berlin have shocked the country.
This incident was the high point of a demonstration by the “anti-mask” movement that brought together about 40,000 people to protest against the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and that resulted in 300 arrests.
The following record gives an account of a demonstration held last Friday, August 28, at the Brandenburg Gate. Among the participants were “truth doctors” Heiko Schöning and Boddo Schiffmann as well as Robert F. Kennedy.
Steinmeier: “Intolerable attack on the heart of our democracy”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the threat of “takeover” by some 200 ultra-rightists of the Reichstag, the seat of Parliament. “The flags of the Reich and the ultra-right harangues before Parliament are an intolerable attack on the heart of our democracy,” said Steinmeier, alluding to the Nazi symbolism that these groups displayed on the steps of the building.
Anyone who disagrees with the restrictions or considers them unnecessary can “express it publicly”; “My understanding ends when the protesters let themselves be drawn into the bandwagon of the enemies of democracy and political agitators,” he warned.
The Minister of Justice, Christina Lambrecht, urged “to defend oneself against these enemies of our democracy”, while the debate has arisen on the opportunity to continue authorizing this type of demonstrations.
“The unbearable image of neo-Nazis in front of the Reichstag … cannot be repeated,” the minister told the Funke group newspapers, while her colleague from the Interior, Horst Seehofer, denounced an “unacceptable” turn against “the symbolic center of our democracy. liberal”.
“Nazi symbols and other flags of the Empire have no place before the Chamber of Deputies,” denounces Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
“To see the flags of the Empire before the Parliament is a shame,” tweeted Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Although the right to demonstrate must be defended, “no one should come to march after right-wing extremists,” he added.
300 arrests
During the day of mobilization against the restrictions, there were some 300 arrests. The most serious incidents took place in front of the Russian embassy, where some 2,000 radicals were concentrated, some of which continued towards the Reichstag.
The group had disintegrated from the demonstration called by groups of diverse orientations against the restrictions due to the coronavirus. The great march, with 18,000 attendees, was dissolved by the police, because the distancing measures were not respected, which was followed by another concentration of more than 30,000 people.
Police officers arrest German-Turkish vegan cook Attila Hildmann
Support for Putin
The core of the ultra-rightist concentrations was formed by followers of the “identity” movement of the Reichburger (“Citizens of the Reich”), who do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and reject its legal order.
While they displayed their flags in front of the Russian embassy, amid shouts of support for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and slogans and posters hostile to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, there were launchings of bottles and other objects against the riot control.
Advocates of conspiracy theories were also mixed in the group, such as the German-Turkish vegan chef Attila Hildmann, the leading figure in these movements, who was arrested.
The presence of far-right elements has become very visible in successive calls that have been held since July in different parts of Germany against the restrictions.
These calls are supported by citizens who consider their freedom of movement violated, esoteric associations and various groups, as well as recognized Holocaust deniers and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the only parliamentary force that supports these protests.
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