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Tense atmosphere in front of the Reichstag in Berlin. Image: keystone
“The Reich flags are a disgrace”: dismay at the events in the Reichstag in Berlin
Politicians from almost all parties have expressed dismay at the events in the Reichstag in Berlin during the protests against the Crown measures.
‘The Reichstag building is the place of activity of our parliament and, therefore, the symbolic center of our free democracy. That chaos and extremists abuse it for their own ends is unbearable, ”said Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) of“ Bild am Sonntag ”.
Protesters against the state’s crown policy broke a cordon at the Reichstag building in Berlin on Saturday night and stormed the Reichstag stairs. The police officers pushed people back. The police used pepper spray, there were fights. Earlier there had been a demonstration in the Reichstag building. The black, white and red imperial flags used by the imperial citizens could also be seen among the protesters. Later, the police broke up the demonstration. Emergency forces cleared the space in front of the Reichstag building and pushed the protesters away.
Videos circulating on the Internet show people standing at the Reichstag gate. Only three policemen stood in his way.
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.”
Diversity of opinion is a hallmark of a healthy society. However, freedom of assembly has its limits where state rules are trampled on, ”said Seehofer. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) tweeted: “The Reich flags in front of the parliament are shameful.” SPD Chancellor Candidate Olaf Scholz wrote: “Nazi symbols, Reich citizenship and imperial flags have absolutely no place in front of the German Bundestag.”
When asked if it would have been better to ban the demonstration, SPD Secretary General Lars Klingbeil said he was surprised that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, according to its own statements, had not discovered any indication beforehand that “The right-wing extremists are trying to open this demonstration to infiltrate.” The photos of the day showed something else. “You will have to look more closely why this information was apparently not available beforehand or was not properly evaluated,” the SPD politician said on “Bild live.” Now it will be necessary to clarify in the Council of Elders of the Bundestag “how were the concepts of security”.
According to estimates by the authorities, around 38,000 people participated in the protests in the city on Saturday. As Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) reported in the evening, around 300 people were arrested during the day, around 200 just in front of the Russian embassy. There, among other things, a crowd of some 3,000 alleged Reich citizens and right-wing extremists threw stones and bottles at the police. as he said. According to the police, prisoners were also released there. Geisel described the events as predictable. “What happened today was to be expected,” he said on Saturday night at the ARD “Tagesthemen.”
Vegan chef Attila Hildmann, who calls himself a “far right” and a preacher of the conspiracy, was also arrested outside the Russian embassy. Geisel did not comment on the history of Hildmann’s arrest.
During the day, streets were temporarily blocked, barriers were broken and a construction container burned, police also announced. She was on duty with around 3,000 officers.
The Stuttgart initiative for lateral thinking 711 called for a protest, around 22,000 participants were expected, but there were many more. There were also counter-protests, even from the left scene.
American lawyer, environmental activist and vaccine opponent Robert Francis Kennedy junior, nephew of former American President John F. Kennedy, spoke in a speech at the rally against the construction of the new 5G cellular network, warned of total surveillance and attacked in this context. including Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Police did not allow a planned demonstration march to start at noon because minimum distances to prevent infection were not observed. After lengthy negotiations with the organizers, the police said they were going to disrupt the meeting. “Unfortunately there is no other option.” Later, the police took away the protesters who remained sitting in the street and did not leave voluntarily.
On banners, participants called for the resignation of the federal government and an end to protective conditions and daily restrictions due to the corona pandemic. The posters read “Put a muzzle on democracy without us,” “Stop the Crown’s madness” and “End the Crown’s dictatorship.” Over and over the crowd chanted “Resistance” and “We are the people.”
AfD politicians and other right-wing groups also called for participation. Flags with imperial eagles, T-shirts with Gothic letters and other symbols of right-wing extremists could also be seen at the Brandenburg Gate and elsewhere. However, in general, a wide mix of citizens, including young and old, as well as families with children, gathered at Friedrichstrasse, where the demonstration was supposed to begin, and then at the Victory Column.
The head of the Association of German Criminal Investigators, Sebastian Fiedler, warned of the possible consequences of the crown protests. “These demonstrations are an ideal environment for radical movements to win more and more people for their ideologies,” Fiedler said of the “Rheinische Post” (Sunday edition / online). “There, the enemies of democracy mix with parts of the middle class, so conspiracy theories can spread faster and faster.”
The Berlin authorities actually wanted to ban the gatherings, but they were subject to court. The decision of the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin against the ban was known on Saturday night. The police stated that the reason for the ban order was that the gathering of tens of thousands of people, often without a mask or distance, posed too high a health risk for the population. This was already demonstrated by the demonstration against the Crown policy on August 1 in Berlin, during which most of the protesters consciously ignored hygiene rules. (sda / dpa)
