Enlarge image
Police officers on duty at corona protests in Schweinfurt: Several participants apparently had knives with them
Photo: Daniel Vogl / dpa
In Schweinfurt, Lower Franconia, opponents of the current corona measures took to the streets again on Sunday evening.
The police spoke of several hundred, possibly around 1000, participants.
In the case of the non-registered actions, a larger group of people had initially gathered in the center on the market.
The police prevented the crowd from protesting, said a police spokesman.
The police said that the participants in the assembly behaved mostly peacefully. Six participants in the meeting reportedly had knives with them. It was particularly explosive to secure the weapons, since messenger services had previously called for knife attacks on police officers. The six people who carried knives with them would now have to answer for the offense against the assembly law, it said.
After the police prevented a protest march, several small groups dispersed in the city center.
The emergency services tried to prevent the individual groups from moving on.
That was only partially successful.
With loudspeaker announcements, the police repeatedly drew attention to the new general decree on such unregistered meetings.
The officials determined the personal details of some participants because of administrative offenses.
City tightened protest rules
The city had tightened the rules because of several incidents in previous protests.
According to the new general decree, rallies are only allowed to take place in one place, so people are no longer allowed to march through the streets.
They also have to keep their distance and wear masks.
The police and the city had observed in the past few days how people were mobilized over the Internet.
On Boxing Day there was also an unannounced gathering in Schweinfurt that resulted in aggression and violence.
A four-year-old child was slightly injured by pepper spray when his mother appeared to be trying to break the police chain.
At a rally before Christmas, police said that participants tried to set a police vehicle on fire.
Meanwhile, in the Lower Franconian town, resistance to the demonstrations and meetings of the "lateral thinkers" scene is growing.
The Protestant Church had invited to a prayer for peace last Sunday evening.
The Catholic Church had announced that it would ring all church bells.
Several citizens of Schweinfurt opposed the unannounced gatherings with a call with the title "Schweinfurt Declaration".
ptz / dpa
