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Unauthorized "lateral thinker" protest on Sunday night at Leipzig Central Station
Photo: Sebastian Kahnert / dpa
According to police reports, around 90 percent of the participants in the "lateral thinker" demo in Leipzig did not wear mouth and nose protection.
After the escalation of protests against corona measures, in the course of which the protection against infection was massively neglected, calls for a political reappraisal of the events are now loud.
Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has sharply condemned the riots and calls for consequences: "What we saw in Leipzig yesterday cannot be justified by anything. The freedom to demonstrate is not a freedom to use violence and to put others at massive risk," Lambrecht said on Sunday.
Such a situation in the midst of the pandemic should not be repeated.
Thousands close together without masks are a peak of irresponsibility and egoism.
"Every day people die of the coronavirus. Those who deny this danger are opposed to the vast majority of our society, which adheres to rules to protect themselves and everyone else," said Lambrecht.
Also attacks on journalists
In Leipzig on Saturday at least 20,000 people from all over Germany protested against the federal government's corona measures.
The city had actually wanted to move the demo to the outskirts to protect against infection.
The administrative court in Leipzig had confirmed this, the OVG decided differently: It allowed a rally with 16,000 participants.
At first, the event was largely peaceful.
Then the city of Leipzig broke up the protest because many people did not wear a mouth and nose cover and did not keep the minimum distance.
But thousands resisted and marched on the inner city ring.
There were attacks on counter-demonstrators, security officers and journalists.
According to the journalists' union DJU, at least 38 media representatives were prevented from doing their work, nine of them by the police, the union said on Sunday.
Several journalists were attacked, some of them massively physically.
"Compared to the anti-corona demonstrations in Berlin yesterday, we observed a completely new dimension in terms of the extent of violence," said DJU chairwoman Tina Groll.
"Strategy of Passivity"
The police's strategy was "passivity".
The officials had not fulfilled their task of enforcing the freedom of the press and protecting journalists.
"They partially prevented them from doing their work themselves," criticized Grudge.
The FDP and the Greens also called for a reappraisal of the escalated demonstration.
The domestic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Konstantin Kuhle, criticized: "It cannot be that the rule of law is watching journalists at work being attacked and the majority of the demonstrators clearly ignoring the conditions."
Green party leader Robert Habeck demanded that the events in Leipzig "urgently require critical clarification".
Freedom of assembly is a valuable asset, but the freedom of others and the functioning of the health system must also be protected.
"Obviously the Ministry of the Interior and the police in Saxony were not prepared for this task at the weekend and were therefore overwhelmed," stated Habeck on Sunday.
State failure in Leipzig?
Before the criticism from federal politics, representatives of state politics had already described the police operation as inadequate on Saturday night.
The regional association of the left had even spoken of "state failure" in a message.
The Greens in Saxony criticized that the state's security organs had lost "all trust".
Meanwhile, the Leipzig police chief Torsten Schultze has defended the police action.
The mission had three goals: to ensure a peaceful course, to prevent possible acts of violence and to enforce infection protection, said Schultze in a video statement.
The first two goals were largely achieved, the third goal not.
The meeting was declared dissolved shortly before 4:00 p.m. due to the violations of the conditions.
In fact, the crowds just stopped in the city center and asked to be allowed to move around the symbolic Leipziger Ring.
There was a lot of pressure at the police barrier, said Schultze.
Using force was "not indicated": "You don't fight a pandemic with police means, but only with the common sense of the people."
Also riots in Connewitz
While the police were busy with the "lateral thinkers" demonstrators in the city center on Saturday, there were also riots in the Leipzig district of Connewitz: rioters had pelted the police station in Connewitz with stones.
Windows were damaged.
They had only recently been exchanged after they had already been damaged in the nights of the riot in early September.
Barricades were later set on fire on several streets in Connewitz.
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Burning barricades on Sunday night in Connewitz
Photo: Christian Grube / ArcheoPix / imago images
The police came with a large contingent.
Water cannons from Lower Saxony drove up.
On the one hand, this put out the fires.
On the other hand, the police made announcements threatening the use of water cannons if people on the streets did not behave peacefully.
Video recordings were also made from the vehicles.
A helicopter circled over the neighborhood.
Police spokesman Olaf Hoppe said on Sunday that police officers were injured by stone throwing.
According to previous knowledge, however, none of the officials is incapacitated.
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cbu / dpa