“Do you know that joke? What do I do if I see a queue in town? Queue up, maybe there’s something good.” With Internet posts like this one, the organizers of the weekly anti-corona demonstrations on Wednesday tried to animate their supporters to unregistered rallies – this time in the form of a flash mob. who is again on duty with more than a thousand officers, are being led by the nose. Until 6:30 p.m., only a few demonstrators could be seen. The police quickly stopped the formation of groups.
Previously, the game known from the previous weeks had been repeated. The organizers had announced a demonstration through the Maxvorstadt, starting from Königsplatz. The city had turned it into a stationary meeting on Theresienwiese. The registrants then withdrew their notice of the meeting – only to register a rally on Theresienwiese shortly afterwards. However, for only five people, the organizers of the evening around their spokesman Melchior Ibing. They too had to wear masks. Right next to it, the anti-vaccination campaigners were supposed to start a car parade, which gradually formed around 6 p.m. His goal: a heart-shaped Munich tour. 150 cars had been registered, 42 were finally on their way.
Opponents of the “lateral thinkers” movement demonstrate peacefully on Odeonsplatz
The opponents of the “lateral thinkers” movement also took to the streets. Several hundred people gathered on Wednesday evening from 6 p.m. on Odeonsplatz in front of an old fire truck with loudspeakers on the roof – peacefully, with masks on and distance. In times of pandemics, vaccination is an “act of solidarity”, protects life and prevents “an impending collapse of the health system,” emphasized the organizers of the rally in advance. “Enough people have already died in the pandemic, we want to put an end to that,” said a spokeswoman for the alliance “Munich in solidarity“, in which, among other things, the Green Youth is involved. “We are sending a clear signal against the deadly anti-science of the lateral thinking movement.” Their “marches” would also increasingly degenerate into a “reservoir for right-wing extremists”.
The police kept an eye on the counter-demonstrators with numerous forces, but the atmosphere was peaceful and calm in the early evening. The participants spread their arms on command and turned once around their own axis – to keep enough distance.
The rallies on Wednesday evening were particularly explosive due to the 55th birthday of Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder on this day. Demonstrators from the scene of pandemic deniers and vaccination opponents announced on the Telegram messenger service that the CSU politician would be given a birthday that he would not soon forget. In the relevant groups, the discussions in advance hardly revolved around the possible compulsory vaccination, but mainly on how best to outsmart the police. In between, alleged supporters of the ex-cook Attila Hildmann, who had fled abroad, begged for donations, while others wanted to sell emergency power generators.
With mass queuing in front of shops, the Munich vaccination opponents wanted to bypass the city’s general decree, which was valid again on Wednesday evening, according to which unregistered rallies of the corona denier scene are prohibited. However, even in the late afternoon, many future demonstrators were still unsure of what their leaders had actually planned. Among other things, a post was discussed in which people were asked to stand in line in front of a pharmacy in the city center. Pharmacy employees, who immediately distanced themselves from the action, informed the police. A first group dispersed shortly after 6 p.m. when six police officers approached.
The police announced at noon that they would protect neuralgic points early on – which this week included the State Chancellery and Maximilianeum as well as the vaccination and test stations on Theresienwiese. Police spokesman Andreas Franken said at lunchtime that they did not want to allow larger elevators to come, to stop recognizable clusters quickly, to address people early and – also with loudspeaker announcements and tapes – to point out the general decree of the city.
Last week, the police stopped several unregistered demonstrations through the city center, issued 1,300 evictions, surrounded several hundred participants and recorded their personal details. More than 700 demonstrators face fines of up to 3,000 euros for violating the general decree, and some ringleaders also face criminal charges.