May Day Demonstrations – Egg thrower aims at Giffey
About 20 demonstrations are registered in Berlin for Labor Day. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey was thrown at the Brandenburg Gate with an egg – but not hit. The police are present with a large contingent in the capital.
DAccording to the police, the announced campaigns for May 1st in Berlin got off to a quiet start on Sunday. At noon, a bicycle demonstration started in the Grunewald, for which up to 10,000 people were registered. It started with around 2,000 participants, said a police spokesman.
There was a moment of shock for Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey at a rally at the Brandenburg Gate: the SPD politician was insulted and an egg was thrown at her – but she was not hit. Giffey gave a speech at the central event of the German Trade Union Confederation.
“At the end of my speech and at the point where I thanked the police for their work today, the eggs were thrown,” said the SPD politician later. “Such actions are neither helpful nor politically valuable. They distract from what today is actually about: Solidarity with Ukraine, fair working conditions and pay, and dealing with the crises of our time together.” And she added: “Every one of us knows: May Day protests belong now about that, but not violence. I won’t let that deter me in my political work.”
As a dpa reporter reported on site, Giffey had to temporarily interrupt her speech because of the protests. The crowd clamored to implement the Berlin referendum on the expropriation of housing companies.
DGB boss interrupted by chants
At the same rally, DGB boss Reiner Hoffmann was sometimes interrupted with chants. The union boss opposed a permanent increase in the defense budget to two percent of gross domestic product, as promised in NATO. Instead, the money is needed for the welfare state and the climate-friendly restructuring of the economy. “That’s why we say today clearly and unequivocally no to a massive rearmament,” said the chairman of the German trade union federation.
A total of around 20 demonstrations were announced for Sunday in Berlin. According to Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD), up to 6,000 police officers are on duty. According to Spranger, they should intervene massively in riots.
It is expected that left-wing autonomists will erupt in violence, as in the past decades. Left-wing demonstrations have also been registered in Hamburg and Leipzig.
In Dortmund, the police used pepper spray and batons against demonstrators from the autonomous scene. The demonstrators attacked police officers and tried to break through a barrier, said a police spokeswoman. There were injuries on both sides. Two demonstrators from the left spectrum were taken into custody.
The demonstrators wanted to protest against a march of about 220 right-wing extremists. At the time of the collision with the police, this march had not even started, said the police spokeswoman. Before the start of their march, the police instructed the right-wing extremists to roll up numerous flags. According to the police, public gatherings that convey a willingness to use violence through paramilitary behavior are prohibited.