Who are the corona walkers in Bavaria?

Conspiracy expert clears up in an interview

Created: 12/23/2021 Updated: 12/23/2021, 3:14 PM

From: Veronika Mahnkopf

The police counted 650 “walkers” in Wolfratshausen on Monday.

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What kind of people go to the corona demonstrations and walks?

What are your motivations and why do politicians have to act now?

Interview with expert on conspiracy theories Bernd Harder.

Bernd Harder, political scientist and expert on conspiracy theories, looks at the corona demonstrations with concern.

In the interview, explains how right-wing radical groups subvert the lateral thinker movement and what politics and society now have to do.

Due to time constraints, we conducted the interview in writing by email.

Mr Bader, opponents of the corona measures are gathering across Germany to take their protest to the street together.

What kind of people are they who are taking part in these corona demonstrations?

Individual citizens, worried about compulsory vaccination?

Groups with right-wing extremist ulterior motives?

For all we know, both. To the outside world, it mostly looks like a colorful mix of “concerned citizens”. They may be there too, but at the core it is a structurally right-wing extremist mobilization. That means that not every participant has a right-wing extremist worldview, these people do not have to be actively involved in the conspiracy-ideological milieu - but it is about common enemy images that come from the field of right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism, conspiracy. There are practically no more expressions of political will to be observed, only an opposition. It's just about showing resistance, apparently. Resistance against an ominous enemy, against "the evil", which the upright people confronts. The unifying,Obviously, everyone / most of the shared idea is that one sees oneself at the mercy of some "dark forces" who are using the pandemic to push through a certain agenda. Hence the chatter about the “health dictatorship”, the “elites”, the “marionettes”, Gates, Soros and whatever terms come up again and again.

No matter how important you consider your own cause - you don't take to the streets together with new rights, neo-Nazis and conspiracy ideologues.

Bernd Harder

Bernd Harder

Bernd Harder is a German journalist, author and political scientist.

He deals with paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, esotericism and occultism. 

Aren't concerned citizens bothered by the attitude of the right or do they accept it approvingly?

That is exactly the criticism that the participants have to put up with.

To be very clear: no matter how important you consider your own cause - you don't take to the streets together with new rights, neo-Nazis and conspiracy ideologues.

This delegitimizes every serious concern and no longer has the right to be taken seriously.

You don't take part in demos where people attach themselves to “Jewish stars” and refer to themselves as the “new Jews”, where conspiracy-ideological madness is shared and right-wing extremists shout their slogans.

And if (as I have often seen) the participants say they don't know anything about it and would never have noticed anything - so please, then they should open their eyes and ears and see who they are walking next to.

Corona demos infiltrate rights: Together against "evil"

The declaration “walk” indicates that the organizers have circumvented the obligation to register for such events.

How is that to be classified?

As you say it.

After the mobilizing power of the “lateral thinking” movement, for example, is no longer sufficient for large demos like 2020 in Berlin or Stuttgart, people are now moving to the smaller cities.

There you can get a few hundred participants together, and so that it doesn't seem ridiculous as a “demo”, it is called “walks” in a derisive way.

How exactly do radical groups use the fears of some for their own ends?

As I said, the point is to construct enemy images in order to overthrow the "system" as such. Take the impending vaccination requirement as an example. In all of these groups and their channels it is claimed that this is once again a “conspiracy theory” that has come true, and only the “lateral thinkers” pointed out a year ago. Science and politics are systematically discredited and stylized as “enemies of the people”, while a sensible person asks himself what a “conspiracy theory” is supposed to have been? Of course it was a mistake that politicians categorically ruled out compulsory vaccination far too quickly, of course that is now a broken promise. But it is neither a lie nor a "true conspiracy theory". Scientific knowledge just changes,and politicians must react to this in a situational and up-to-date manner. You may find this confusing and exhausting, but it is basically something completely normal and not something that is planned, controlled and brought about by evil background forces. These strollers are not interested in such serious explanations. Every scientifically well-founded change in the vaccination scheme is interpreted as a long-planned move by the “pharmaceutical lobby”.Every scientifically well-founded change in the vaccination scheme is interpreted as a long-planned move by the “pharmaceutical lobby”.Every scientifically well-founded change in the vaccination scheme is interpreted as a long-planned move by the “pharmaceutical lobby”.

What dynamic is emerging and what can be expected in view of the upcoming compulsory vaccination?

The mass movement is the vaccinated, not the vaccine opponents. The media should stop paying that much attention to these few people. Presumably the situation will not calm down once the compulsory vaccination is enforced. But the small, hard core of lateral thinkers and conspiracy ideologues has been in the process of increasing radicalization for a long time, and this must be resolutely opposed on all sides. You can personally think what you want about compulsory vaccination, you can also justifiably consider it wrong - but under no circumstances should politics allow its measures to be dictated by a small, aggressive group. Otherwise, and this can be observed more and more every day, politics will lose the much larger part of the good-willed and sensible, who are fed up with it,that the whole thing drags on longer and longer because politics takes into account a few stubborn heads.

Corona in Bavaria: "Politics must not allow measures to be dictated by aggressive groups"

How can society deal with it?

Dialog?

Reject?

To be silent?

No way to be silent. Of course, you can no longer talk to the hard core ideologues during these marches - but you can still talk to the undecided, insecure, who really don't know exactly what they are doing. In addition, politics, society and security authorities have remained silent for far too long and simply did nothing. When the new Interior Minister seriously says in an interview that “right-wing extremists and Reich citizens are trying to enforce the movement in order to pursue their own goals”, then that is incredible and ridiculous. Right-wing extremists and citizens of the Reich have been doing this for almost two years, what we are currently seeing is that they have long been successful. So we need several stages: Politicians must finally recognize that the majority of them are not "concerned citizens",who are driven by real and serious fears and act accordingly. The security authorities have to question their cuddling course with these protesters. And society must openly and publicly show that radical vaccinators are a small, noisy minority and that the real mass movement consists of vaccinators, who have it that this blaring minority keeps the pandemic going. I believe that 900,000 people in Germany are currently being vaccinated every day, while a few hundred thousand “walkers” take to the streets. So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.The security authorities have to question their cuddling course with these protesters. And society must openly and publicly show that radical vaccinators are a small, noisy minority and that the real mass movement consists of vaccinators, who have it that this blaring minority keeps the pandemic going. I believe that 900,000 people in Germany are currently being vaccinated every day, while a few hundred thousand “walkers” take to the streets. So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.The security authorities have to question their cuddling course with these protesters. And society must openly and publicly show that radical vaccinators are a small, noisy minority and that the real mass movement consists of vaccinators, who have it that this blaring minority keeps the pandemic going. I believe that 900,000 people in Germany are currently being vaccinated every day, while a few hundred thousand “walkers” take to the streets. So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.that radical vaccinators are a small, noisy minority and that the actual mass movement consists of those willing to vaccinate, which it is that this blaring minority is keeping the pandemic going. I believe that 900,000 people in Germany are currently being vaccinated every day, while a few hundred thousand “walkers” take to the streets. So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.that radical vaccinators are a small, noisy minority and that the actual mass movement consists of those willing to vaccinate, which it is that this blaring minority is keeping the pandemic going. I believe that 900,000 people in Germany are currently being vaccinated every day, while a few hundred thousand “walkers” take to the streets. So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.So at the moment it would be important to find a way to deal with these marches and, above all, to consistently protect groups of people who are seriously threatened, such as politicians and scientists.

In Erding, the corona opponents took a so-called walk for the third time.

The protest march was not registered.

In Nuremberg, the police are investigating after demonstrations against the Corona measures for sedition.

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