Status: December 28, 2021 01:30 a.m.
Again, numerous people took part in protests against the corona rules and against compulsory vaccination. The situation escalated in several cities: demonstrators attacked emergency services.
Thousands of opponents of the Corona measures took to the streets nationwide again on Monday evening. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 6500 people protested in Rostock against the corona rules and against compulsory vaccination. There were nine criminal charges for resistance, bodily harm, damage to property and the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations, as the police announced. Around 2,750 people took to the streets in Schwerin.
Police officers attacked in Primasens
There were also protests in numerous cities in other federal states. Around 3,000 people took part in a march and rally in Saarbrücken. In Kaiserslautern, around 1,500 opponents of the Corona measures moved through the city center, as the police in Rhineland-Palatinate announced. In Pirmasens, around 300 people were on so-called walks. According to the police, three officers were slightly injured in attacks on the emergency services.
According to the police, around 3,000 people demonstrated in Cottbus, Brandenburg. Opponents and supporters of the corona measures also took to the streets in the state capital Potsdam. According to the police, the demonstrations were peaceful.
There were also demonstrations again in numerous Thuringian locations. In Gera alone, around 2000 people took part, as a police spokeswoman said.
Participants in a “walk” against the Corona measures go through Gera. They were accompanied by a few police officers.
Image: dpa
Violence in Bautzen too
In Saxony, the police were deployed in several cities to break up large gatherings of people. There were riots in Bautzen. More than ten police officers were injured and some vehicles were damaged, according to police. The officers wanted to stop an elevator of about 100 people, said a police spokesman. They were attacked with bottle throwing and pyrotechnics as well as physical violence. The officers used irritant gas and batons. The injured police officers usually suffered a bang.
According to the spokesman, there was a strong influx of people in the city in Upper Lusatia from around 6 p.m. In total, around 500 to 600 people took part in the demonstrations across the city. The officers tried to stop the elevators. It came to the escalation. According to the police spokesman, in the front third of the demonstrations “people were more likely to belong to the extremist spectrum”. Ultimately, it was possible to initially arrest around 100 people and record their identities. Later around 30 more people were stopped a little further away.
Dresden: injured by pepper spray
According to the police, around 500 people came together in Dresden for a gathering that was inadmissible according to the state’s Corona Emergency Ordinance. Due to the high number of infections, only fixed meetings with a maximum of ten participants are currently allowed. Both the protesters and the police used pepper spray. A woman was injured in the process. One man was arrested. In Leipzig, the police said they took action against a gathering of up to 250 people.
According to the police, up to 650 people took to the streets in Dortmund to point out the “victims of the Covid measures”. According to the police, hundreds of people protested against the corona measures and compulsory vaccination in Hesse and Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
GdP chief: police work suffers
In view of the numerous protests, the police union (GdP) fears that the resources used for this could interfere with the rest of the police work. The high level of effort involved in demonstrations and so-called walks may require “other police tasks to be neglected, for example traffic monitoring,” said the chairman of the GdP, Oliver Malchow, to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“You can do that. The question is, how long will the citizens accept it if some get away with certain offenses because the police can no longer pursue them.” This could lead to a loss of confidence in the police. “I fear that the police will become even more of a lightning rod for angry citizens,” added Malchow.