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In Berlin, around 1,000 opponents of the crown policy of the federal and state governments took to the streets again this Sunday. Under the name “Silent March against discrimination and for human rights”, a private individual had registered the demonstration with 5000 participants in Prenzlauer Berg.
At the start, around 12.30pm, only about 400 people made it to the starting point on Bornholmer Strasse. According to the police, about 1,000 people participated in the spike. Several hundred people had gathered to counter the protest.
Most of the participants wore masks and kept their distance. Police tweeted that they were on duty for the demonstrations with around 600 officers. The demo route passed through Schönhauser Allee, Danziger Strasse, Greifswalder Strasse and Otto-Braun-Strasse. At around 3:30 pm, the organizer finished the demonstration at Alexanderplatz. The protest was largely quiet.
Our Tagesspiegel reporter at the scene reported that there was a heavy police presence in the neighborhood around Schönhauser Allee. There were also massive protests by local residents against the protesters. They drummed in pots on Bornholmer Strasse and Schönhauser Allee to disrupt the protest. Loud whistles and horns were heard.
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Counter-protesters accompanied the so-called silent march on the street from the sidewalk. At times, the two demos were only separated by a row of parked cars. “Ashamed!” Or “They’re marching with Nazis and Fascists!” Read on the banners.
According to a police spokeswoman, there have been isolated temporary arrests as counter-protesters took to the streets to block the protest march. However, the police immediately arrested them.
Participants want to “speak” and “protect the Basic Law”
The protesters demanded with large signs: “We have to talk.” Because you have to sit together at a table, explains a participant in the so-called silent march. Now it’s about “protecting the Basic Law,” the man said.
In any case, the corona measures are “scientific nonsense.” When asked what he thinks of the fact that Reich citizens and right-wing extremists also participate in these demonstrations, the protester replies: “There are always people who want to do mischief, but shouldn’t we go out on the street for that?”
A resident who stood on the side of the road with a sign saw it differently: He was appalled that “so many people were following stupid slogans,” he said. The counter-protesters were also distributed in the side streets around Schönhauser Allee and Greifswalder Strasse. By an estimate by the Tagesspiegel, the counter-protest was numerically significantly greater than that of the crown skeptics.
There were similar calls for anti-corona rallies on Sunday in several German cities, including Eberswalde and Cottbus. Therefore, the initiators targeted peaceful demonstrations.
Their demands include more self-determination in the fight against the pandemic, fewer restrictions by government regulations and a vaccine exemption. The initiators speak of “permanent fear campaigns” and express doubts that the science on the Corona issue works independently of the government.
The spokesperson for the so-called “silent march” spoke to 2000 participants in an interview and thanked the police. He announced new demonstrations.
The demonstration ends around 4 pm on Alexanderstrasse.
There was a similar lift at Kurfürstendamm in October. On Wednesday, several thousand people protested against the crown policy at the Brandenburg Gate. There were 365 preliminary arrests and 77 police officers were injured.
The initiators of the counter-demonstration of the spectrum of the left saw the “silent march” as a “victim scene” in which recognized neo-Nazis participated. They had already announced in advance that they would interrupt the demonstration out loud. (with dpa)
