Corona protests: “Absolutely without understanding” – police horrified by protesters

DAcross Germany, thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday against restrictions imposed by the crown pandemic. According to the police, violent clashes took place between protesters and officials in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz square.

Large demonstrations also took place at the Marienplatz in Munich and in Stuttgart. More meetings were reported from Bremen, Cologne, Dortmund and various Saxon locations. Minimum clearances were often not observed.

Officials at Alexanderplatz had given orders, the Berlin police on the short message service Twitter. Some protesters were required to provide personal information to report that 86 people had been detained. Criminal proceedings have been launched, including for assaulting law enforcement officers, police said. Since some protesters had resisted, officials used “simple physical violence,” he said.

More than a thousand people had gathered for the undeclared demonstration at Alexanderplatz. Many protesters chanted slogans such as “We are the people” or “Freedom, freedom”, “Resistance” and “Traitor of the people”. According to a press spokeswoman, bottles were also thrown at police officers.

More than ten meetings were recorded around the nearby Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. People have been demonstrating there against pandemic measures for weeks. However, according to the Crown Ordinance, a maximum of 50 people may attend each of the meetings. Also on Saturday, dozens of people attended a meeting in the Reichstag building, with around 30 arrests. The police were in Berlin with a thousand emergency personnel on Saturday.

Among the protesters in front of the Reichstag and at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Volksbühne were conspiracy theorists and right-wing populists. A sign at the Brandenburg Gate read: “Stop panic politics.”

Police asked cook Attila Hildmann, known for his vegan recipes, in front of the Reichstag to assign him a different protest site after “emotions” had built up in front of the Reichstag regarding the demonstration, as a spokeswoman said. However, he was not arrested and later left the plaza, according to reports.

Munich police gave up eviction

In Munich According to the police, around 3,000 people gathered in the center of Marienplatz to demonstrate against the crown’s requirements. Since the number of participants was significantly higher than the 80 registered participants, it was not possible to maintain the minimum distance between the protesters, Munich police said via Twitter.

However, protesters did not respond to requests from officials over the loudspeaker to end the meeting or at least separate them. “For reasons of proportionality,” the chief of operations decided not to evacuate “the emotional but peaceful meeting.”

According to the police, seven other demonstrations against the crown restrictions took place in the center of Munich. A meeting with the correct spectrum participants was dissolved in front of the town hall, the personal details of 36 protesters were included. There were seven arrests at the demonstrations in Munich.

Of the Stuttgart Police The large-scale 711 lateral thinking initiative demonstration in Cannstatter Wasen with several thousand protesters was said to be “largely peaceful.” The police did not want to reveal the number of participants in the demonstration entitled “Vigil of the Basic Law”.

In Bremen According to the police, around 700 people participated in various protests. Officials launched several investigations into the participants for violating the Assembly Law.

In Dortmund Police resolved two unauthorized protests with loudspeaker announcements. According to the police, members of the extreme right-wing scene had mixed with the participants. One of them hit the camera of a media team and slightly injured a human. The 23-year-old suspect, who had previously insulted a media representative, was arrested.

According to the WDR, there were two of its journalists, one of whom was slightly wounded in the head. The two journalists have filed a complaint that the WDR is examining other legal steps. “Our job is to research the background and show the connections. We do not allow this task to separate us from this task. Such an act is not just an attack on press freedom, it is ultimately a threat to our democracy, ”said WDR editor-in-chief Gabi Ludwig, according to the announcement.

In Suburb According to the police, several hundred people, including children, marched through the city center during an unregistered demonstration. Police President Uwe Jacob massively criticized the protesters’ behavior: “A large number of protesters have repeatedly asked passers-by to remove mouth guards and to enter stores without a mask. We have absolutely no understanding for that. “

In Thuringia The cities also took to the streets more than a thousand people, mainly to demonstrate peacefully against the measures of the Crown. The largest event took place in Gera with 600 participants, a police spokesman said. Former Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) was among the protesters. 400 people took to the streets in Erfurt. Distance regulations were sometimes not observed. When officials threatened to end the demonstration, the situation calmed down.

Also in Schwarzenberg, Plauen and in other Saxon places, protests were held against the Crown’s measures.

Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has defended the restriction of fundamental rights in the fight against Cororavirus. In light of mounting protests against state requirements, he also pleaded on Sunday night to strengthen the need for decisions.

“I think it is a task that we have to do even more to make clear why certain restrictions still exist,” Lambrecht said in the ARD “Berlin Report”. It is not about depriving people of liberty, but protecting health and life, “and not carelessly wasting what we have achieved.” You have to make this clear to people.

The federal government and federal states announced Wednesday that crown requirements would be greatly reduced, but will vary in size and speed depending on the federal state.