Thousands demonstrate against Corona restrictions: Kemmerich too - now there are serious allegations

Corona demos in Germany: Thousands demonstrate against conditions in Berlin, Dortmund, Munich and Stuttgart - police must intervene: distance rules violated

• The conditions against the coronavirus * continue to change everyday life very much.
• People across Germany are demonstrating against the measures *.
• There was criticism of Thuringia's ex-Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) .
• Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus *. You can also find current case numbers in Germany here as a map *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available. The most important thing about this topic is on our Facebook page Corona News. Become a fan now.
  

Munich / Berlin / Dortmund - The lockdown in Germany had come into effect after pictures from Italy triggered fears of an overload of the health system in this country too. According to the Johns Hopkins University, 171,324 people in Germany have now been shown to be infected with the coronavirus and 7,594 patients have died in connection with it. 

Against ongoing restrictions , thousands of people took to the streets nationwide on Saturday. The main motives for the protests are the restrictions on private and economic life, but also the closure of borders * and the fear of violating fundamental rights - such as new laws on the use of vaccines *, which in many places are fueled by conspiracy theorists. The grand coalition had already rejected speculation that vaccination was mandatory.

Sometimes right-wing extremist groups mingled with the demonstrators or called for their own demonstrations. In Thuringia, the demonstrations were accompanied by the AfD and political celebrities from the FDP .

Corona demos in Germany: violent clashes in Berlin

More than a thousand people had gathered for an undeclared demonstration on Alexanderplatz in Berlin. As the police said on Twitter, they were asked to leave the square.

Several hundred people gathered in the #Alexanderplatz area for the purpose of expressing their opinions. This is according to # covid19 containment regulation not allowed. We address the people specifically and ask to leave the square.

After some of the police did not follow the orders, dismissals were given and - in the event of resistance - "simple physical violence" was used. An AFP journalist reported that the demonstrators had also thrown bottles. TV chef Attila Hildmann was among those detained by the police.

At a meeting at the Reichstag building , there were about 30 arrests. For several weeks now, up to 50 people have been demonstrating on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz .

Corona demos in Germany: Thomas Kemmerich demonstrates in Thuringia

On Twitter, Thuringia's ex-Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) *, who had been elected Prime Minister in February with AfD votes, announced that he had participated in a demonstration in Gera for "proportionality". He distanced himself from the AfD , but according to a report by the editorial network in Germany, AfD politicians also attended the meeting.

Today I attended an event in #Gera. For proportionality and a # corona exit with measure and middle. The organizer was Peter Schmidt, entrepreneur and member of the #CDU #Wirtschaftsrat. There were two speakers: the notifying entrepreneur and me. #NoAfD pic.twitter.com/XcJ432YdbN

Criticism of him came promptly - also on Twitter and in the person of his predecessor and successor, Bodo Ramelow (Die LINKE):

Keep your distance or mouth / nose protection / covering? - Nothing!
Role model? - Nothing! https://t.co/tKY7qk1DGl

Ramelow forwarded a newspaper report accusing Kemmerich of neither keeping his distance , nor wearing a mask and thus failing to act as a role model. Pictures also show this. Other FDP members also criticized Kemmerich - also for lining up with AfD officials in protests.

Thomas Kemmerich after the Prime Minister election in Thuringia in February

© dpa / Martin Schutt

Corona demos: AfD and right-wing extremists among the demonstrators

Many people may justify legitimate concerns about fundamental rights - the proportionality of the lockdown is now also being questioned by experts. The problem with this, however, is that it is simply not differentiated from right-wing radicals and conspiracy theorists. This is shown, among other things, by videos of a user on Twitter:

No assembly according to @PolizeiSachsen and # assembly authority pic.twitter.com/pjahyUAuaC

The user filmed how several hundred people are walking through a street and obviously demonstrating - on his private blog he reports that among other things, a right-wing city councilor was among the demonstrators. Despite failure to comply with the distance requirement, the police present had made no attempts to dissolve the assembly.

Corona demos in Germany: Munich ignore distance requirement

According to AFP, right-wing extremists had also mixed up in demonstrations in Dortmund  and Berlin - the two demos were resolved with loudspeaker announcements. In Munich, 36 personal details were recorded at a meeting from the far-right spectrum in front of the town hall.

In addition to Berlin, Gera ,  Dortmund and Munich , demonstrations were also held yesterday in Bremen , Stuttgart and Plauen - where the protests were mostly peaceful, according to AFP reports. The police had to intervene in Munich : with more than a thousand participants , far more than the 80 people registered had gathered at Marienplatz, it was no longer possible to keep the distance requirement , and the protest escalated in Nuremberg. 

Slogans at the demonstration in Cologne caused some surprise - people were asked by participants to enter shops without masks in the future.

AFP / cat

* Merku r.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen digital editorial network.

List of rubric lists: © dpa / Martin Schutt