Tuesday, January 04, 2022
Update
Violence in Saxony and Hesse
Tens of thousands take part in corona protests
The elevators against the Corona measures, both registered and illegal, are not slacking off: In several federal states, a total of more than 40,000 people take to the streets. Small riots and assaults occur in several places.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated nationwide against the Corona measures on Monday evening – often during unauthorized so-called walks. According to the police, around 17,000 people took to the streets in Thuringia alone. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, around 12,000 people in more than 20 cities took part in registered “light walks”, rallies and unregistered silent marches. Around 10,000 people gathered in Bavarian cities and towns. It remained mostly peaceful.
There were also numerous elevators of counter-demonstrators in cities like trier and Rostock Position related. In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Hesse, protests against state restrictions led to riots. In Saxon Lichtenstein officers were attacked, according to police. According to this, around 60 violent young people had mingled in a crowd of around 200 demonstrators. A total of 14 officers were injured. “One person tried to wrest a service weapon from an officer and one officer was bitten by someone in the gathering,” the police said.
In Thuringia, scuffles, “aggressive behavior” by some demonstrators and “verbal attacks” were recorded between two groups. In Erfurt The officers therefore used pepper spray. In Weimar they had to separate two camps when about 20 people tried to stop an elevator of about 150 people.
The police station in Magdeburg spoke of broken police chains, bottles being thrown at officials and pyrotechnics. According to initial findings, however, no police officers were injured. According to the police, around 2500 people had gathered in the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The gathering, like most in the police station area, was not indicated.
In Nuremberg Around 4200 people demonstrated against the Corona policy – significantly more than expected. There were no incidents. In Bamberg According to the police, around 2,150 people met for a registered “walk”. In many other Bavarian cities and communities, opponents of the Corona measures also called for so-called Monday walks as a sign of protest. Many cities had banned non-stationary rallies and threatened participants in unannounced demonstrations with fines.
In Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, around 3,000 fewer people came together than a week ago. There were occasional counter rallies – according to the police, there were no significant incidents according to initial findings. In Rostock the security forces registered around 4,000 protesters in Schwerin Around 2000 people moved through the city, in Neubrandenburg around 1800.
In Brandenburg, too, protests by critics of the corona measures and anti-vaccination campaigns continued across the country in the new year. Counter-actions were announced in many places. In the state capital, on Monday, the alliance “Potsdam shows its colors” called for the opponents of the Corona measures not to let the city go. Potsdam Mayor Mike Schubert said at a rally that the people made it clear by their presence that there was not only the protest against the current measures. The togetherness at a registered demonstration shows that it is possible to express one’s opinion without violating rules or laws, said the SPD politician.
Several thousand people also demonstrated in Baden-Württemberg. In Friedrichshafen Around 2000 participants gathered for a so-called walk, as a police spokesman announced. The participants spontaneously agreed to meet on social networks. In Mannheim, Heidelberg and in Rhein-Neckar district the police counted a total of around 2,000 demonstrators.
The police in Hesse Fulda broke up a meeting. One of the participants attacked the forces, said a police spokesman. The officers used pepper spray and the person was arrested. According to the police, the gathering was broken up because no masks were worn and no distances were observed.
The police station in Nienburg and Schaumburg in Lower Saxony reported a total of 1000 demonstrators who were spread across the two districts. In other cities in the state such as Braunschweig, the police counted around 1,100 people on the streets.