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At the large-scale demonstration of crown deniers in Berlin on Saturday night, there was a now much-discussed incident: Right-wing extremists broke a cordon in the Reichstag building and stormed the Bundestag stairs. Many of them carried the black, white and red imperial flags used by so-called “imperial citizens” and other fascists. Some threw bottles and stones at the policemen.
Videos are circulating online showing how initially only a few officials tried to secure the barriers against a crowd of angry protesters. Then some protesters broke through the barriers, ran up the stairs and came directly to the front of the building. The videos show vocal right-wing extremists standing outside the Reichstag gate and looking for fights with the police. At first, only three policemen stood in his way outside the gates, fending off mobs and physical attacks. Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz explained: “We cannot always be present everywhere, it was precisely this gap that was used to scale the barricade, go through and then climb the stairs in front of the Reichstag.”
When more police arrived, the demonstration broke up. Emergency services cleared the space in front of the Reichstag building and pushed the protesters away.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier strongly condemned Sunday’s attack: the Reich flags and the mob of right-wing extremists in front of the German Bundestag are an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy. We will never accept that “https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/”. Our democracy is alive, “Steinmeier emphasized. Anyone who is angry with the measures of the crown or who doubts their necessity can do it, also in public, also in demonstrations.” My understanding ends where the protesters let themselves be hooked to the cars. from the enemies of democracy and political agitators. “Steinmeier thanked the policemen,” who acted with extreme caution in a difficult situation.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that Picture on sunday: “Diversity of opinion is a hallmark of a healthy society. However, freedom of assembly has its limits when state rules are trampled on.” The CSU politician went on to say: “The Reichstag building is the place of activity of our parliament and therefore the symbolic center of our liberal democracy. It is unbearable that chaos and extremists misuse it for their own ends. I thank the police for getting ahead of us today quickly and consistently. The state must take action against these people with zero tolerance and constant severity. “
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) tweeted: “Everyone has the right to discuss how to deal with Corona and, of course, to speak out for their opinion. No one should persecute right-wing extremists, endanger the right-wing extremists. police officers and exposing many to the risk of infection. The flags of the Reich in front of the parliament are disgraceful. “
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz wrote: “Our Basic Law guarantees freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate. It is the answer to the failure of the Weimar Republic and to the horrors of the Nazi era. Nazi symbols, Reich citizens and imperial flags have absolutely nothing to do with the German Bundestag. “
“Just disgusting”
The Secretary General of the Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, said bild.tvHe believes that it is “completely legitimate to demonstrate against politics, ask questions, criticize things. That is part of democracy.” But when he sees that Reich flags are being used, and when Reich citizens and Nazis try to storm the building with other protesters, “it angers me, it stuns me.” He went on to say: “And of course the thoughts go first to the security forces there. And I thank the policemen, you saw that in the videos that got in the way and that prevented worse things.”
When asked whether it would have been better to ban the rally, Klingbeil said he was surprised that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, according to his own statements, had not discovered any evidence that “right-wing extremists are trying to undermine this manifestation”. The photos of the day showed something else. “You will have to take a closer look at why these indications did not seem to exist beforehand or were not adequately evaluated.” Now it will be necessary to clarify in the council of elders of the Bundestag “how were the security concepts”.
Green MP Konstantin von Notz said: “Participants in a demonstration also mobilized by the AfD and NPD tried to storm the Reichstag. The Reich war flags determine the image in front of the building. # Summer2020 It is simply disgusting and disgraceful “. Greens Federal President Annalena Baerbock tweeted: “When the flags of the German Reich fly in front of the Reichstag, it is not an expression of freedom of expression, but an attack on our democracy. And he has to be able to defend himself. “
FDP member of the Bundestag Konstantin Kuhle wrote on Twitter: “The authorities in the federal capital must be able to prevent the barriers around the Reichstag building from breaking down. When I see black, white and red flags waving in front of our parliament I am wrong.”
There were also violent clashes between the police and protesters near the Russian embassy. Up to 3,000 “Reich citizens and extremists” demonstrated there, said Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD). 200 people were arrested. According to Geisel, around 300 people were arrested in the course of the protests. Geisel described the events as predictable. “What happened today was to be expected,” he said Saturday night at the ARD.Daily Topics. Right-wing vegan chef Attila Hildmann was also arrested in front of the Russian embassy. Geisel did not comment on the history of Hildmann’s arrest.
The Stuttgart initiative called “lateral thinking 711” had called for a demonstration. The NPD, the so-called “identitarians”, AfD politicians and other extremist groups from right to right also called for participation. There were a lot of flags with imperial eagles, T-shirts with gothic letters and other symbols of the right-wing extremists everywhere.
The head of the Association of German Criminal Investigators, Sebastian Fiedler, warned of the possible consequences of the crown protests. “These demonstrations are an ideal environment for radical movements to win more and more people to their ideologies,” said Fiedler. Rheinische Mail. “There, the enemies of democracy mix with parts of the middle class, so conspiracy theories can spread faster and faster.”
