"Pedestrians" attack Juso: the police speak of "Watschn" - Klingbeil and Kühnert show solidarity

Created: 01/25/2022, 2:40 p.m

By: Thomas Eldersch

A Juso was attacked by some lateral thinkers in Rosenheim.

© private

During a so-called “walk” there was an incident in Rosenheim on Monday evening.

A counter-demonstrator from the SPD was attacked by three men.

Rosenheim - They are already part of the weekly program in many German and Bavarian cities: the Monday "walks".

A loose and mostly unannounced association of corona measures opponents, vaccination skeptics and lateral thinkers.

Right-wing extremists and citizens of the Reich often join these protest marches.

The mood at these unannounced demonstrations is always aggressive - especially towards police officers, counter-demonstrators and the press.

On Monday evening (January 24) in Rosenheim, such a "walk" was no longer peaceful.

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Attack on Juso in Rosenheim: counter-demonstrator gets hit in the face

It all started with a registered rally on Rosenheim's Ludwigsplatz. There, the SPD and the party, among others, called around 6 p.m. under the motto “Show the flag” to stand up for the Corona measures. They want to show a "clear edge against the right, swagger and any conspiracy theories," says the Facebook page of the SPD in Rosenheim-Stadt. When the event was over, some Jusos moved on and, around 8 p.m., met the protest procession of walkers at the transition from the small pedestrian zone to the large one. Shortly after the pedestrian crossing, a few Jusos lined up to “observe”, as their circles say. The "walkers" approached the small group and soon surrounded them. Then it escalated.

One of the Jusos, holding an SPD flag, was surrounded and attacked by a group of demonstrators.

He got hit in the face.

In this context, the Rosenheim police inspection speaks of a "watschn".

Some other protesters called for staying peaceful.

In fact, a few of the attackers left the 23-year-old SPD man.

But attacked a friend who was filming the whole thing and hit his camera.

Rosenheim: Police are reporting dangerous bodily harm

According to the Jusos themselves, the police came to the scene after the incident. By this time, the attackers had already disappeared into the crowd of 500 to 600 demonstrators (according to the police). The affected Juso then filed a complaint against unknown persons for bodily harm. The Jusos also have a theory as to why the police only intervened so late. One member, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of death threats and hostilities, says the police only parked a police van at the scene. "The train itself was not accompanied by the police."

The media officer at the Rosenheim Police Inspectorate, Maurer, sees the situation somewhat differently. "We were on site relatively quickly, but the perpetrators were able to go into hiding." The ad was then recorded and investigations are now being carried out into three suspects for dangerous bodily harm. In addition, the police are always present during the “Monday walks”, Maurer continues. But you can't constantly monitor a train of 500 to 600 people. Mainly "you provide protection for road users" by warning drivers or other road users of the demonstration with blue lights.

According to Maurer, such “walks” are often arranged on social media.

"Then it says, for example, let's all look for my key in Rosenheim on Monday evening." Afterwards we usually meet in front of the town hall.

There the police speak regularly with the demonstrators and clarify the current rules.

Participation in such “urgent meetings”, as they are officially called, cannot in itself be “sanctioned”, Maurer continued.

But, and the official emphasizes this clearly, "it was the first incident of this kind so far and therefore an isolated case".

"Aggression has no place in such demonstrations."

Rosenheim incident lands at Kühnert and Klingbeil

The whole story in Rosenheim even reached the party chairmanship of the SPD.

On Monday evening, General Secretary Kevin Kühnert met his predecessor and current party leader Lars Klingbeil for a chat on Kühnert's Instagram channel.

The regular format is called "The K-Question".

Here the two answer questions from the base or talk about current political issues.

During their one-hour conversation last night, they were also made aware of the incidents in Rosenheim (from 5:30 p.m. onwards).

The two SPD leaders immediately expressed their sympathy.

"Full solidarity with those who are attacked by any lateral thinkers, Reich citizens or Nazis," said SPD leader Klingbeil.

"Feel free to reach out to me or Kevin if we can be of assistance or assistance," he continued.

Kühnert then thanked everyone "who took to the streets nationwide and showed who was demonstrably the vast majority in the country".

The Rosenheimer Jusos then actually contacted the Willi Brandt House in Berlin.

As of Tuesday afternoon, however, they had not received a reply.