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Almost 40,000 people protest in Berlin against the crown measures of the federal government and the states. Right-wing extremists also fight the police. There are turbulent scenes in front of the Reichstag building.
Apart from the large-scale demonstrations against the crown policy of the federal and state governments, there were also clashes between protesters and the police at the Bundestag headquarters, the historic building of the Reichstag. Several hundred participants in a meeting stormed the stairs of the Reichstag building at night, said a spokeswoman for the Berlin police. Local officials pushed the protesters and also used pepper spray. Initially, the spokeswoman was unable to provide any information on possible arrests.
Meanwhile, calm has returned in front of the Bundestag seat, the police spokeswoman said late at night. The stage for a rally in front of parliament will be dismantled, but protesters can no longer be seen.
Videos showing the sometimes turbulent scenes before the evacuation circulate online. Individual protesters also waved the black, white and red Imperial flags used by Imperial citizens in front of the main portal of the building. You can see that a whole group of protesters broke through the barriers and came directly to the glass front of the parliament building. Only three individual policemen got in the way of the crowd before incoming reinforcements could drive them back. Officers were also occasionally thrown with glass bottles.
Later, the police broke up the demonstration. Emergency forces cleared the space in front of the Reichstag building and pushed the protesters away. 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.”
Seehofer: “zero tolerance”
Several politicians expressed their dismay at the events before the Reichstag. “The Reichstag building is the place of activity of our parliament and, therefore, the symbolic center of our liberal democracy. That chaos and extremists abuse it for their own ends is unbearable,” said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer from “Bild am Sonntag”. “I am grateful to the police for saving us from this quickly and consistently today. The state must take action against those people with zero tolerance and constant toughness.”
Seehofer referred to the previously discussed considerations intensely related to the fundamental right to freedom of assembly. “Diversity of opinion is a trademark of a healthy society,” emphasized the CSU politician. “However, freedom of assembly has its limits wherever state rules are trampled.”
“Flags of the Reich in front of the Parliament”
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had previously expressed outrage at the protesters’ behavior. “They are all right to discuss how to deal with Corona and of course to show their opinion,” the SPD politician tweeted. “No one should persecute right-wing extremists for this, endanger the police and expose many to the risk of infection. The Reich flags in front of 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. “
Green MP Konstantin von Notz explained: “Participants in a demonstration also mobilized by the AfD and NPD tried to storm the Reichstag. Reich war flags mark the image in front of the building. # Summer2020 It is simply disgusting and disgraceful.”
Geisel: “It was to be expected”
According to the Berlin police, up to 38,000 people had previously participated in protests against the state’s crown protection measures. A mass demonstration broke up at noon due to distance rule violations. In front of the Russian embassy in Berlin, protesters threw bottles and stones at police officers. Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel reported a total of around 300 arrests overnight, including cook and conspiracy theorist Attila Hildmann.
“It was to be expected what happened today,” he said Saturday night at the ARD “Tagesthemen.” Most of the distance rules had not been observed, so the demonstration had to be broken. In some parts of the city there were clashes with the police. Geisel regretted that “as expected”, especially during the demonstration that later broke up in the morning, the minimum distance was not observed. “A situation that I would have liked to avoid completely,” he said.
The Berlin Interior senator had banned the protest in advance, but the courts overturned the decision. The night after the riots outside the demonstrations, Geisel declared that he was of the opinion “that I must have a clear political position.” Because on Saturday people would not have gathered who criticized the individual decisions of the government in matters of the crown, but rather “have doubts about our basic free democratic order as a whole and want to attack it.” People are radicalized. He does not believe “that it will serve democracy if we back down and show no attitude.”
