“Lateral Thinking Initiative”: Demo ends – hardly any incident | NDR.de – Nachrichten – Lower Saxony

Status: 11/21/2020 6:08 pm

In Hannover, opponents of the crown protection measures demonstrated at Opernplatz on Saturday. The protest was organized by the “lateral thinking initiative”.

According to the Hannover police, up to 650 participants had gathered. Those without mouth and nose protection were targeted directly, the spokesperson continued. If the certificates were not presented, the police sanctioned the crime. In the fenced off Opera Square in the center of the city, speakers on one stage had repeatedly doubted the danger posed by the corona virus. They also described the anti-pandemic government measures as excessive.

Pyrotechnics to the limit

Minor incidents occurred during the demonstration: one person managed to break the police chain and move towards the “think outside the box” demonstration. “The forces were able to detain the person,” said a spokesman for NDR.de. In addition, the pyrotechnics were lit on the brink of the “lateral thinking” demonstration. Three or four smoke pots with colored smoke would have been burned. “We assume that the manifestation of ‘lateral thinking’ should be disturbed,” the spokesperson continued.

Police reject counter-protesters

In general, however, it stayed quieter than initially supposed. Police had spoken in advance of up to 900 people who were expected to attend the protests. Also for a counter-demonstration, significantly fewer than the 600 announced people gathered. In the afternoon, some 330 participants were there, said a police spokesman for NDR.de, including some 120 leftist autonomists who lobbied for a spontaneous protest against the police that agreed to the “lateral thinkers” rally. The police pushed the counter-protesters back a few dozen meters.

The last rallies broke up

At the national level, people are demonstrating in “lateral thinking” protests against the Crown’s requirements – this weekend in Leipzig, Bochum and Berlin, among others. In past protests, conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists have mixed with protesters. The rallies ended prematurely several times because the participants did not meet the requirements, such as those for masks and minimum distance.