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Sunday, November 08, 2020
Many thousands of “lateral thinkers” are demonstrating in the middle of the pandemic in Leipzig. Despite the ban, they force a march through the Leipziger Ring. The police let them go. Now the call to preparation is strong.
The manifestation of “lateral thinking” in Leipzig with countless violations of hygiene regulations and violent riots led to lawsuits of consequences in the federal government and in Saxony. On Saturday at least 20,000 people demonstrated against the crown restrictions in the center of the East German city. According to the police, 90 percent of the participants did not wear masks. At night, the crowd forced a walk through the symbolic Leipziger Ring, although an elevator was expressly prohibited. The pyrotechnics flew against a police barrier and there were skirmishes.
Numerous politicians accused the Leipzig police and the Saxon Interior Minister of failure. Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht called for a “thorough investigation.” “What we saw yesterday in Leipzig cannot be justified by anything. The freedom to demonstrate is not the freedom to use violence and put others at massive risk,” Lambrecht declared. This situation in the midst of the pandemic should not be repeated. Thousands together without masks are a peak of irresponsibility and selfishness.
Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer found clear words. The Saxon government and the majority of the population do not understand this type of demonstration, “due to recklessness and arrogance at a time when an open look shows the dangers of the virus.” At the same time he announced a prosecution of the facts. Interior Minister Roland Wöller called it “incomprehensible that in the midst of a worsening corona pandemic a meeting of more than 16,000 participants in the center of Leipzig could be approved.” The organizers and participants had made it clear in advance that they did not want to comply with any hygiene rules. The violent dissolution of a peaceful demonstration was not a problem.
Has the police leadership failed?
Green Party leader Robert Habeck demanded that the events in Leipzig “urgently require critical clarification.” He spoke of excessive demands on the Ministry of the Interior and the police in Saxony. The leader of the left-wing party, Katja Kipping, told the Germany publishing chain: “As far as I know today, the leadership of the Saxon police has completely failed.” FDP interior expert Konstantin Kuhle criticized: “It cannot be that the rule of law watches as journalists are attacked at work and most protesters are clearly unaware of the conditions.”
The union parliamentary group Vice Thorsten Frei called the approval of the demonstration in Leipzig city center in the “Rheinische Post” as “irresponsible”. “I cannot explain to anyone why only two households meet in Germany and 16,000 people can demonstrate at the same time, where it is clear and unequivocal in advance that they will not meet the requirements for protection against infections,” emphasized the CDU politician. . The left, the Greens and the SPD in Saxony demanded a prosecution of the facts at a special meeting of the interior committee.
Leipzig Police Chief Torsten Schultze defended the police action. The mission had three goals: to ensure a peaceful course, prevent possible acts of violence and enforce protection against infections, Schultze said in a video statement. The first two goals were largely achieved, the third was not. “A pandemic is not fought with police means, but only with the common sense of the people,” added the police chief.
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer warned against hasty criticism of the police and also held the courts accountable: “All involved, the assembly authorities, the police and the courts must make responsible decisions in light of the current infection situation, “he said. The right of assembly must be guaranteed. “But the rules of the assembly authorities must be observed and applied.”
The mayor of Leipzig “pissed off”
The mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, was upset that a municipality had been “left alone again”. He was “pissed off,” the SPD politician said in a conference call with journalists. Above all, he was outraged by the “verdict of the judge far removed from any reality” of the Bautzen High Administrative Court.
The chairman of the conference of interior ministers, Georg Maier, also criticized the court’s decision: “That would not have been necessary,” the ARD Thuringian minister said. He called on the police to act more consistently against rule violations: “We must prepare for the future to intervene much more consistently, much harsher and earlier in such meetings.”
The court had only allowed the demonstration of “lateral thinking” in the city center on Saturday morning. The city of Leipzig had wanted to move the rally to a large fairground car park on the outskirts of the city to protect itself against infection, the Leipzig Administrative Court had initially confirmed this. The reasoning of the OVG for the approval of a demonstration with 16,000 participants in the center of the city is still pending. Police spoke of 20,000 people at Augustusplatz on Saturday, and the “Counted Up” initiative estimated the total number of participants at 45,000. At first, the demonstration on Augustusplatz was largely peaceful. Due to the violation of the requirements, the city of Leipzig dissolved the meeting shortly before 4 pm
In fact, people just stopped, only a few left the city center as instructed. In order to pull the ring, the crowd demanded the location of the demonstrations on Monday in 1989. Around 6 pm, the police released thousands of people. Police spokesman Olaf Hoppe said the crowd was allowed to stop the ring because they could only have been held back using massive force. Among them were numerous right-wing extremists who were not detained by the police.
Attacks on the police in Leipzig-Connewitz
As the “side thinkers” crossed the ring, strangers attacked the police in Leipzig-Connewitz. Stones were thrown against the windows of a police station. Barricades were subsequently set on fire. The police advanced with water cannons and numerous forces. On Friday night, masked people had attacked police in the district that was seen as an alternative to the left. They demonstrated against the arrest of a suspected left-wing extremist.
Leipzig police recorded 102 crimes with 89 suspects for all operations on Sunday, including attacks on law enforcement officers, bodily injury and property damage. There have been 13 preliminary arrests and 18 detentions. In addition, 140 administrative offenses were recorded for violating the Crown Protection Ordinance and the right of assembly.
