Demonstrations against the corona measures are taking place in many cities in Germany. Critics of the measures are gathering again in Frankfurt.
- the corona* -Crisis is forcing the federal and state governments to issue ever tougher contact restrictions. The Chancellor who was still in office at the last Corona summit had this Angela Merkel* and the Prime Ministers agreed.
- But resistance is forming against the corona measures. In Frankfurt demonstrate the lateral thinkers*. One Demonstration in Berlin was not approved. In Saxony, demonstrators march in front of the health minister’s house. The police are also reporting large demonstrations from other cities.
- All the news and information about the Corona protests in Germany.
+++ 17.35 p.m .: In Frankfurt, some critics of the Corona policy met again for a silent march on Sunday. A spokesman for the Frankfurt police told the FR on request that around 100 people had met at 4.15 p.m. at Opernplatz, then marched in silence through Frankfurt and finally returned to the start of the event. There were no incidents worth mentioning.
A few demonstrators have also gathered at Goetheplatz, where the police were unable to name a number of the participants. However, there was no information that this was a “larger event”. And so far everything has been peaceful on Goetheplatz too, added the police spokesman.
Corona protests: attacks on journalists – further demos planned
+++ Update, 11.10 a.m .: In Jena, they want to crack down on illegal corona demonstrations in the future. The head of the regulatory affairs department, Benjamin Koppe, called the protests against the MDR “simply irresponsible in view of the current situation, a pandemic that has gotten out of control”.
If there are rallies and protests in the corona pandemic in the coming days, all possibilities of police work will be exhausted. According to Koppe, this includes fines and fines as well as the possibility of canceling approved events.
Further corona protests, especially in Saxony, are expected on Monday (December 6th). A major rally is planned in Dresden.
+++ Update, December 5th, 2021, 6.45 a.m .: The protests against the corona measures continue across Germany. According to the police, the mood at the events threatens to change in some places. Around 5,000 lateral thinkers gathered in Hamburg. The police had to ask the participants several times to keep the necessary distances.
The emergency services report from Trier that “the mood among the diverging groups is increasingly heating up”. This is reported by the website of the world. There were a total of 400 people in the city center, but some of them had participated in the counter-demonstration.
Corona protests: “We are very concerned that the violence will increase”
The lateral thinker demo in Frankfurt * had to be broken up by the police because the participants did not follow the instructions of the emergency services. In Berlin, where a march of Corona skeptics had been banned, several hundred people had gathered. The police reported several arrests.
The increasing aggression among the demonstrators is particularly evident from an increase in violence. According to the newspaper, a journalist from the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” was attacked by a group of corona skeptics in Berlin. A journalist was attacked, according to a representative of the Verdi union. She is said to have been thrown to the ground and then kicked by a group. “Some well-known right-wing extremists were involved in the attacks,” said Jör Reichel, managing director of the journalists’ union at the Verdi union, the Tagesspiegel. “We are very concerned that the violence against journalists will increase in the coming months.”
The police from Thuringia are also reporting riots as part of corona protests. In Greiz, demonstrators are said to have ignited pyrotechnics and thrown bottles. Tens of thousands of people came together in Vienna to demonstrate against the Corona measures. Numerous riots are reported from the capital of Austria. Numerous right-wing extremists took part in the demonstration in Vienna.
Corona protests in Germany: attacks on journalists in Berlin
+++ 6.40 p.m .: Opponents of Corona measures took to the streets on Saturday afternoon in Berlin despite a ban on demonstrations. The police spoke of a number of participants in the “lower three-digit range”. The demonstrators moved illegally through Berlin-Friedrichshain. There were several arrests for violating the Corona rules and for resisting the officials, it was said. A journalist who filmed the protests on his cell phone was reportedly attacked by a participant. This had snatched the smartphone from him. The journalist was able to get it back after a scuffle, it was said. The alleged perpetrator had to answer for attempted robbery.
A demonstration by vaccination opponents and corona skeptics with 1000 planned participants, originally registered for Saturday, was banned on Friday. According to the police, the reason for the ban was earlier findings that the participants would regularly ignore the corona rules. Refusing to wear a mouth and nose covering is one of these types of demonstrations. Similar demonstrations had already been banned several times this year in the capital.
Corona protest: Up to 700 people on a “walk” in Freiberg
+++ Update from Saturday, December 4th, 2021, 12.15 p.m .: In Freiberg, despite controls on the access roads and the presence of the police in the city, up to 700 people gathered for a “walk” against the Corona restrictions. 30 people are now threatened with a fine of 250 euros each, as the police announced. Due to the dramatic Corona situation in the Free State, according to the Saxon Corona Emergency Ordinance, gatherings with a maximum of ten people are currently only allowed – and only at a fixed location.
At around 5.45 p.m., a mid-double-digit number of participants gathered at Albertpark, according to the police report. “The police officers spoke to them and pointed out the applicable restrictions resulting from the Saxon Corona Emergency Ordinance.” Regardless of this, some of them started moving around 6 p.m. and walked across the sidewalks towards the train station.
At around 6.15 p.m., the emergency services stopped the elevator and surrounded the participants, as it was said. In Chemnitz the police counted around 300 participants. Left-wing counter-demonstrators tried to stop the elevator, according to the EPD press agency.
Corona protest: torchlight march in front of the minister’s house in Saxony
+++ Update from Saturday, December 4th, 2021, 11.55 a.m .: Among the protesters who had drawn torches in front of Petra Köpping’s house were apparently sympathizers of the right-wing extremist organization “Free Saxony”. Spiegel Online reports. The police in Saxony are also expecting corona protests in the coming days. Especially in Dresden, numerous participants are expected on Monday at a corona demonstration in front of the state parliament. The police are expecting a large-scale operation.
Corona protests: torchlight march in front of Petra Köpping’s house in Grimma
First report from Saturday, December 4th, 2021, 10:48 a.m .: Grimma – In Saxony, Minister of Health Petra Köpping (SPD*) to the target of a group of angry demonstrators. In Grimma there, around 30 people, equipped with torches, marched in front of the 63-year-old politician’s house. According to the police, the group appeared in front of the house on Friday evening “shouting with whistles, torches and posters”. It was an “inadmissible elevator”. This is reported by the AFP news agency.
The police on site then recorded 25 identities. On Saturday morning, the Saxon police tweeted that they would check “all legal steps and possible criminal offenses”. The state security department of the Leipzig Police Department took over the investigation against the participants in the demonstration.
Resistance to Corona measures: SPD and Greens condemn the torchlight procession
The still incumbent party leader of the SPD, Norbert Walter-Borjans, condemned the march. The outgoing party chairman wrote on Twitter that what had happened in front of Köpping’s house had “nothing to do with worry and the urge for freedom”. That is “fascistoid in style and appearance”. He assured the state minister of the full support of the party.
But not only in Saxony there is more and more resistance to the existing corona measures. In Frankfurt am Main, the lateral thinking movement called for a demonstration against the tightening of contact restrictions, especially for unvaccinated people. At least three counter-demonstrations were registered in the metropolis in Hesse.
Corona skeptics were prohibited from marching in Berlin. A planned demonstration was not approved. Regardless of this, several groups had asked to travel to Berlin via Telegram, among other things. (with agencies)
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