After crown protests, Berlin continues to fix problems – politics

It was cleanup day. The street sweepers had been driving for hours around the Victory Column and down the Strasse des 17. Juni; Park employees emptied trash cans and cleared the zoo of traces over the weekend. With almost 50,000 people protesting in Berlin, it was a difficult task. But probably not as deceptive as the politicians, who tried in their own way to deal with the events of the previous Saturday. He did so by turning some of the weekend’s main characters into heroes and others into losers.

The losers could be seen at the Interior Committee of the Berlin House of Representatives, room 311. Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) and Police President Barbara Slowik were summoned there. To explain how it happened that between 300 and 400 protesters were able to reach the doors of the Bundestag with almost no obstacles. Reich citizens and neo-Nazis in solidarity with members of the youth organization AfD Junge Alternative. That they could wave imperial flags and chant nationalist slogans. The senator from the interior and the chief of police sat at the end of the very long room like two defendants, the parliamentarians on either side. Geisel and Slowik seemed to know they had little chance.

The police chief tried to explain the situation: about 250 officers were on duty around the Reichstag, but many were busy preventing more protesters from entering the square in front of the Reichstag building. Therefore, there was a space directly in front of the steps. Of the Daily mirror reports that he had apparently recognized a known alternative practitioner on the right-wing extremist scene. “We won,” he yelled and: “There are no more police in front of this building.” The protesters then broke through the barriers in front of the steps. Slowik and Geisel also claimed that the Bundestag was never in danger, however. But “the power of images counts here,” Slowik said. Geisel also spoke of the “power of images.”

Open detailed view

With a short press release on the escalation of the demonstration on Saturday, the police leadership tried to stop the escalation of the symbolism on Sunday: “The emergency services on site for the Reichstag’s external security reacted and intervened immediately. An intrusion into the Reichstag was the People, therefore, it is not possible. ” But in addition to these powerful images that went around the world, there was the horror and especially the outrage of recognized politicians, which accumulated throughout Sunday. They unanimously condemned the march, the president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), described as “despicable what happened there”. But he was one of the few who still supported the police leadership. “How do you want to be prepared for this?” Schäuble asked in an interview with him “Daily Topics” back.

Steinmeier thanks the police officers

While the chief of police and the senator had to explain themselves in the House of Representatives, the heroes were honored at the Bellevue Palace. On Sunday, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier described the events in front of the Reichstag building as an “unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy” and invited police officers to thank them on Monday. It was as if he wanted to counteract the bad images of Saturday with positive symbolism. The meeting was also quite unintentionally burdened by the location of the Bellevue Palace. The Victory Column, in which the meeting of “lateral thinking 711” took place, the biggest on Saturday, is just around the corner, so to speak; The Straße des 17. Juni, where many of the protesters had gathered for hours, is in direct line of sight from the castle through the zoo. The federal president could have seen from his office.

This Monday, not only were the three policemen invited, who for a few moments were the only barrier between the entrance to the Bundestag and the hundreds of protesters who had climbed the stairs of the Reichstag building. Because the federal president wanted to thank all the officers who were on duty that weekend, he asked two other police officers and one police officer to come to Bellevue.

They sat together at the round wooden table in the Bellevue Palace conference room for almost an hour. When they went next door, in the great room, in front of the press, it was also a strange moment. Due to Corona’s safety distance, places on the floor were marked with small white dots for police officers to locate. With their hands folded behind their backs and an understandably stiff expression, they now looked a bit like the federal president’s bodyguard. It had settled in front of the lectern in the middle of the room.

“Anyone who is angry at Corona’s measures or who doubts their need can and can speak out against it,” Steinmeier said. “But my understanding ends where the protesters get hooked on the cars of the enemies of democracy and political agitators.” The federal president warned of the dangers of right-wing extremism, which “has deep roots in our society. It is a grave danger.” It was a short speech, perhaps five minutes long, at the end of which Steinmeier thanked the police. “Anyone who saw the disturbing images on Saturday had to fear worse,” said the federal president. “We owe it to you – the Berlin police, the federal states and the federal government – that the violence was not accepted.”

Meanwhile, the world of supporters of the lateral thinking movement was once again haunted. Over the weekend, a protester was killed by officials during an operation, he said. It was a deliberate false report, but it spread very quickly on social media. In fact, there are several videos recorded by protesters documenting harsh actions against a protester. Because he refuses to leave a place near the zoo, he has to let go. When she finally refuses to put her arm behind her back, an officer hits her twice hard on the back. The use is under investigation, a police spokeswoman said.