Frankfurt am Main: “Querdenker” demonstration without masks: water cannons against counter-protesters

Stand: 10:41 pm | Reading time: 3 minutes

WDue to violations of the mask requirement and lack of safety distances, the police repeatedly stopped a demonstration of the alliance “lateral thinking 69” on Saturday in Frankfurt am Main. “The ‘Querdenker’ elevator stops again and again and the meeting leader is asked to communicate hygiene requirements,” police tweeted in the early afternoon. The train leaving from the main station was also repeatedly blocked by counter-protesters.

Left-wing protesters stood in various streets, displaying a banner with the inscription “The Right to the Land” and the symbols of Antifa. The police blocked the roads to keep the demonstration groups away from each other. There were no riots. Police announced on Twitter at 2:12 pm that they had used water cannons against the counter-protesters to clear the route.

According to the organizers, several hundred protesters participated in the demonstration against the federal and state crown measures. According to the Frankfurt Public Order Office, around 2000 participants registered for the final rally at 2.30 pm Due to the event under the slogan “No Lockdown for Bembeltown”, there were massive traffic disruptions in downtown Frankfurt.

“On balance, four policemen were injured by rioters,” police said late at night. Among other things, a female police officer was bitten on the leg by a participant in the “lateral thinking” event. She and three other suspects were arrested. “288 reprimands were issued and numerous violations of the meeting requirements were documented,” he said around 10 pm

According to the regulatory office, the march of the demonstration was shortened considerably and moved to other streets. It was forbidden to wear a Star of David with various inscriptions (such as “CoV-2”, “unvaccinated”, “vaccinate frees you”, “Dr. Mengele” or “ZION”) as in similar demonstrations.

The German Association of Journalists (DVJ) appealed to the police to allow the media to report freely. Initially, two journalists from the satirical magazine “Titanic” were prohibited from taking pictures during the demonstration. They could only have continued working after showing their press credentials.

Around 900 people also gathered in Karlsruhe for a “lateral thinking” demonstration. According to the police, they demonstrated peacefully against the Corona measures currently in force, without a mask, but at a distance. Police initially did not record major violations of the minimum distance of 1.50 meters. At the entrance, however, “a large number of people had already been approached,” police said on Twitter.

Around 100 people also gathered with masks for a counter demonstration near the “lateral thinkers” at the Karlsruhe measurement site under the motto “Think together instead of lateral thinking”. There were also demonstrations in Lörrach, Freiburg and Waldshut.

Last week, around 20,000 “side thinkers” demonstrated against the federal government’s crown measures in Leipzig. There were riots and violent right-wing extremists also participated.