Corona activists: why the Bundestag rioters arrive at the wrong time for the AfD

IIn the AfD parliamentary group, the speculation began on Wednesday. Who had let the rioters into the Reichstag? While the debate on the controversial Infection Protection Act was still continuing, accredited activists marched as “guests” by the Reichstag and harassed members of parliament. Federal Minister of the Economy Peter Altmaier (CDU) was filmed and insulted by an activist in the elevator.

The leader of the AfD parliamentary group, Alice Weidel, was also contacted according to information from WELT. “I was surprised,” says an AfD MP who claims to have seen people in the building at noon. It was not clear who had given them access. “I thought they weren’t even allowed guests that day.”

A problem for the parliamentary group: as it became clear on Thursday, people had flocked to the Bundestag at the invitation of AfD MPs Udo Hemmelgarn and Petr Bystron. MP Hansjörg Müller also invited the visitors, the dpa news agency reported and named the Bundestag police as the source. Without the company of parliamentarians, the activists strolled through the Reichstag, while outside an angry crowd demonstrated against the passage of the Infection Protection Act.

This raises questions in the parliamentary group, after all, the leader of the AfD parliamentary group, Weidel, had warned in the past against “abuse of the Reichstag” by Greenpeace activists. But also for the Bundestag: how to deal with visitors, activists and obvious disruptors in the future, especially if they endanger the safety of parliamentarians?

The videos that aired from the Reichstag on Wednesday didn’t just scare parliamentarians: YouTuber Elijah Tabere’s live broadcast shows how Bundestag member Udo Hemmelgarn leads him past police barriers to the entrance of a Bundestag building. Tabere supports the protest against the crown state measures with his channel with 30,000 subscribers. A second flow begins a little later in Hemmelgarn’s office.

Two other faces can be seen there, former banker Thorsten Schulte, who meanwhile spreads conspiracy ideologies on YouTube under the alias “Silberjunge” and appears as a speaker at “lateral thinking” rallies, and an employee of another AfD-affiliated activist. Hemmelgarn confirmed Schulte’s invitation to WELT.

In the live broadcast, which is no longer publicly available, viewers could watch for more than an hour as the group made their way through the underground passages towards the Reichstag building. Along the way, they were joined by another woman, who then sparked a wave of outrage by insulting Economy Minister Altmaier. The woman is Rebecca Sommer, who has worked for various conservative outlets in the past and has reported on YouTube about refugee camps on the Greek island of Lesbos.

In a video distributed on social networks, you can see how she talks to Altmaier in front of an elevator, denies his conscience and insults him when the elevator door closes. Tabere’s video also showed her People who had their mobile phones out were asked about their voting behavior. Among them is the leader of the Green parliamentary group Anton Hofreiter. too Konstantin Kuhle, a national FDP politician, had complained about the harassment. AfD MP Petr Bystron confirmed that his office had put Sommer on the guest list on short notice at the request of a group colleague. “Zeit Online” reported on this first.

Visiting rules had previously been tightened

Actually, the following applies: Members can bring up to six visitors to the Bundestag. However, you must accompany them during their stay in the house. For the debate on Wednesday, the requirements had been tightened: you had to give the personal data of the guests. Only in this way was it possible for the Bundestag administration to identify people so quickly on Thursday. According to the SPD, at a meeting of the Council of Elders, the deputies were also informed that one of the activists had previously received a “threatening statement” from the Bundestag police. It was known that there could be problems with the people in question.

The leaders of the AfD parliamentary group, Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel, distanced themselves from the behavior on Thursday. “We regret the unacceptable behavior,” they shared. In a subsequent press release, Gauland restricted that MPs were not at fault. In any case, they were in charge of accompanying the guests. But the deputies could not do anything about his shameful behavior.

It is the attempt by the top of the group to transfer responsibility for wrongdoing to the rioters. The incident comes at an inopportune time for the AfD. In fact, the parliamentary group wanted to focus on the debate on the Protection Against Infection Law, which it describes as the “greatest restriction of fundamental rights in the history of the Federal Republic.” On Thursday, however, the political debate on Reichstag security changed and the AfD’s role questionable.

The AfD parliamentary group had made an “ugly face,” said the first parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Carsten Schneider, after the meeting of the council of elders. Two members of the AfD had “smuggled crown deniers” who were known to the police. The “harassment of parliamentarians” is a border crossing and possibly criminally relevant. The parliamentary group will now collect all incidents and hand them over to the prosecutor.

The Greens’ first parliamentary director, Britta Haßelmann, described the events as “serious”. The people smuggled in by the AfD would have “obviously wanted to interrupt the free exercise of the mandate by the members of parliament and, therefore, the functionality of our parliament”. This is attacking democracy. The First Parliamentary Managing Director of the FDP parliamentary group, Marco Buschmann, said: “The AfD is abusing the Bundestag as a stage to despise parliamentarism and liberal democracy.” It is “a strategic concern to render our democratic institutions inoperative.”

It is not the first time that an attempt has been made to influence the deputies in the Reichstag building. In the summer, activists had already used the Reichstag as a setting for their concerns. When parliamentarians debated lifting the debt brake for the second supplemental budget in early July, climate activists managed to access the so-called Western lobby in front of the plenary. There they threw flyers into the air. In the photos, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) can be seen as she, apparently surprised, turns to the activists.

Also in July, Greenpeace activists went up to the Reichstag building to display a banner with the words “A future without coal power” directly below the words “Dem deutscher Volke.” According to the vice-president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), this was done with the support of the parliamentarians. “There were members of the German Bundestag who helped Greenpeace to bring their team to the Bundestag,” Kubicki said in September of WELT. They smuggled it in. Members of Extinction Rebellion also had access. “You almost made it to the Chancellor.”

When questioned, Kubicki’s office announced Thursday that the incidents had consequences: “They were used against ‘interferers’ Administrative proceedings for crimes were initiated, ”said Kubicki’s office manager Klaus Weber. “Interested parliamentarians were warned.” At the end of August, the protesters managed to reach the Reichstag steps. There they waved the Reichstag flags. You can watch videos of how he got into fights with police officers. At that time there were calls for a review of the security concept, which initially the Council of Elders abstained.

But now again there are calls for consequences. The Bundestag is examining the criminal consequences against the AfD parliamentarians involved, the dpa reported. If your immunity is lifted, this could lead to investigations. Thoughts of new safety precautions are loud too. It should be considered whether there should be a basic visitor registration obligation, according to a member of the AfD. The president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), is called upon to make proposals, according to the Social Democrats. The parliamentary group has set a current time for Friday.