More and more people have joined the protest marches against the Corona measures in Unterhaching in the past few weeks. On Monday, the police counted around 300 participants and found that the unannounced demonstrations are no longer as quiet as these meetings were in November. Whistles sounded through the streets of Unterhaching and slogans were chanted. Masks were rarely worn, and distances were often not maintained. Next Monday, such gatherings will only be tolerated in the local park. And there are strict rules for that.
This meeting had nothing to do with a walk, as those involved like to call this form of protest. “It was clearly different,” says Mayor Wolfgang Panzer (SPD), who asked for reports. The district office also reports “abnormalities”. The participants are said to have repeatedly divided into several groups in order to finally reunite. This is also confirmed by the head of the Unterhachingen police inspection, Siegfried Graf. “In addition, the range of participants has changed in such a way that police officers are now increasingly being approached verbally,” reports a spokeswoman for the district office. For reasons of infection protection, the authority has therefore issued a general decree that prohibits such unregistered marches next Monday, January 31st. Such gatherings may only take place stationary on the Bürgerfestplatz in the local park. This does not apply to registered demonstrations.
The order includes eleven densely written DIN A4 pages, which, in addition to the specified location, also stipulates that all participants aged six and over must wear a mask and an FFP2 mask from the age of 17. Only speakers are allowed to take off the masks, smoking, drinking and eating do not release you from the obligation to wear a mask. In addition, loudspeakers may only be used for speeches and performances that are directly related to the topic of the meeting. The volume should be adjusted so that third parties are not disturbed more than is unavoidable under the circumstances. Whistles may only be used for five minutes per half hour of meeting time. Flyers may not be distributed, as a minimum distance of 1.50 meters cannot be maintained. A violation of the general decree can be punished with a fine of up to 3000 euros.
The police are expecting an audience from Munich
With the general decree, which only applies to Unterhaching, the authority is based on the city of Munich. She expects protesters to switch to the district because of the ban on unregistered protests in Munich. For example, on Monday in Unterhaching, a “large number of dark-clad, middle-aged males” were observed who “spoke disparagingly” to the police officers.
Unlike in Unterschleißheim or Haar, where opponents of the Corona measures had registered their protest events, this has not been the case in Unterhaching so far. The justification for the general decree states: “It can be assumed that the organizers deliberately did not report the meeting in order to deprive the meeting authorities and the police of the opportunity to prepare adequately for the meeting.”
According to Graf, head of inspection, during the past protest marches “in a personal conversation” tried to convince participants to register the meeting. Also next Monday you will try to enforce the general decree “communicatively and consistently”. If that doesn’t work, there will be ads. If a meeting leader reports to the police at short notice on Monday evening, they could, according to the district office, “allow another location ad hoc” at their own discretion.
The Unterhachinger Greens municipal councilor and member of the state parliament Claudia Köhler welcomes the general decree, but thinks that people have been watching for too long, mainly because the right-wing extremist party “Der III. Weg” has advertised the event massively and well-known citizens of the Reich have approached young people in the town center. “You have to endure criticism and protests,” said Köhler in the municipal council, “but look at who you demonstrate with or who you let along.”
On Monday, people demonstrated in Unterschleißheim for cohesion and solidarity in the pandemic. The far-right party “Der III. Weg” had also called for the counter-demo.
(Photo: Alessandra Schellnegger)
Supporters of the third way were also among the participants in the Corona protest march on Monday evening in Unterschleißheim, as a spokesman for the Oberschleißheim police inspection confirms. District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) announced at his Corona press conference on Thursday that the police would monitor the protest marches very closely – both beforehand and afterwards. The authorities found that well-known protagonists from the right-wing extremist environment were also present at the demonstrations. Of course, not all participants belong to the right-wing extremist spectrum, and protests are legitimate, according to the district administrator. “But we have to make efforts to ensure that these people aren’t pushed in this direction. And we have to monitor closely whether organizational structures are being set up there.”