Corona protests are increasing significantly – countries are reporting more aggressive behavior
“I used to vote for the CDU. I’m not a guinea pig “
“These are our 68ers”: This comparison does not come from a Corona demonstrator, but from a local SPD politician. The video (8 min.) From Freiberg in Saxony shows that the protest against the corona policy is not only supported by radicals.
During the fourth wave, the number of demonstrations and the number of participants in corona measures increased significantly. This was the result of a survey among the responsible authorities. Several federal states registered increases in administrative offenses and criminal offenses.
D.he protests against the corona measures have increased significantly across Germany since the beginning of December. In both the number of demonstrations and the number of participants, almost all federal states recorded an increase or even tripled, according to a survey by the Evangelical Press Service (epd) among the responsible authorities. Several countries also reported a more aggressive demeanor by demonstrators and an increase in administrative offenses and criminal offenses.
The authorities observed a noticeable increase in protests in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, as well as in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia.
Central Germany was a focus. According to the Ministry of the Interior, almost 20,000 participants have taken part in 250 meetings in Saxony since the beginning of the month. In Thuringia, up to 6000 people took part last Monday.
The Ministry of the Interior in Düsseldorf stated that initially the fourth wave of the pandemic did not lead to an expansion of the protests: “Now at the latest, however, a trend reversal can be observed with a moderate increase in the number of meetings with a strong increase in the number of participants.”
Number of demonstrators tripled in Cottbus
Bavaria also spoke of a significant expansion since the end of November. On December 2nd, in view of the high number of infections, the federal and state governments decided nationwide to stricter corona rules, especially for unvaccinated people.
In Cottbus in Brandenburg, the number of protesters tripled within a week from up to 1,100 to around 3,500. In Hamburg, according to the interior authorities, there were around 5,000 demonstrators on the last weekend in November and around 8,000 on the first weekend in December. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, around 1400 participants were counted at the Monday demonstrations on November 29th and around 3,400 on December 6th.
Several federal states reported an increasingly aggressive and sometimes violent demeanor by demonstrators. From North Rhine-Westphalia it was said that “anti-constitutional and security-endangering tendencies” were increasingly evident. Sometimes violence is also advocated and “right-wing extremist narratives are shaped”.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania explained that more and more people from the right-wing to right-wing extremist scene “use the Corona issue and the fears of the citizens to spread their ideology and aggression”.
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