1st of May
May demo in Berlin: depots with stones discovered
Kai Wegner (CDU), Governing Mayor of Berlin, and Barbara Slowik, Police President in Berlin, during a visit to the fire station on Wilmsstrasse in the Kreuzberg district. photo
© Christoph Soeder/dpa
On May 1st, thousands of people will once again march through the city in protests in Berlin. The Berlin police are facing a major operation – and come across stone deposits in advance.
Before the start of the so-called Revolutionary May 1st demonstration In Berlin, police officers discovered several depots with stones and roof tiles on roofs and on the ground along the planned demonstration route. According to the police, some information about this came from residents.
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) defended the heavy police deployment in the capital on May 1st on Wednesday. “We have to protect those who protect us,” emphasized the CDU politician.
Wegner announced consistent intervention in the event of violence. “What is legally permitted is also used to prevent crimes,” said the head of government. “Offenders who throw stones and attack police officers or firefighters will have to deal with us. We will not tolerate that in our city.”
A total of 6,200 emergency services
The cost of such an operation annoyed him greatly, he explained. Berlin taxpayers would incur costs because “some rioters want to go crazy on a day like this and attack people,” said Wegner. “When I hear that there are stone deposits on roofs in this city, then these are not trivial offenses. These are acts with a high probability of seriously injuring people – or even more.”
According to Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD), the police are accompanying the demonstrations with a total of 6,200 emergency services, 2,400 come from other federal states and the federal police.