Corona: Antifa supporters against "walkers" - police keep groups apart
Created: 2022-02-07 21:07
By: Tobias Gmach
Posted at Gautinger Bahnhofplatz: The young counter-demonstrators expected the "walkers" on Monday evening.
But they didn't come - because the police had diverted the train.
© Dagmar Rutt
The first counter-demonstration against “Corona walkers” in the Starnberg district took place on Monday.
The group promoted "common sense" and waved Antifa flags.
Gauting
– The first registered protest action against compulsory vaccination and Corona* measures in Gauting faced the first counter-demo on Monday evening.
But that is only correct in theory.
In practice, the two camps did not meet - because Gauting's police chief Andreas Ruch diverted the train of "walkers" to avoid a confrontation.
"The organizers agreed," said Ruch on site.
Instead of passing the S-Bahn station as announced, the 60 to 70 participants marched along Hubert-Deschler- and Jägerstraße in the direction of Pippinplatz.
The almost 20 counter-demonstrators had posted themselves at the train station to await the “walkers” with large banners – but they just couldn’t get past.
Against “the Schwurbler”: First demo against “Corona walkers” in Gauting
Taking to the streets against "the scumbags" and "for common sense": That's what the small group at Bahnhofplatz had set themselves.
A student from Gauting, wrapped in a rainbow flag, identified herself as the organizer.
She did not want to reveal her age or her full name.
According to police chief Ruch, she had already registered an event for the climate movement "Fridays for Future" in Gauting.
On Monday evening from 6 p.m., the banners of their all young comrades-in-arms, most of them dressed in black, read: “Pandemic still there, vaccinated Antifa”, “lateral thinking is nonsense, keep your brain clean”, “Hanau, Halle, Christchurch – Conspiracy theories include annihilation fantasies” or “No place for racism”.
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Corona walks in the district of Starnberg: counter-demonstrators with “relevant clientele”
The speech through the megaphone was held by a young man who told Starnberger Merkur that he was a student and from the district.
Police officer Ruch did not want to doubt this, but stated in general: apart from the organizer, the counter-demonstrators were not Gautingen.
He spoke of "relevant clientele".
Should mean: Some of the young protesters are politically left-wing.
In his speech, the young man emphasized that the group responded to the actions of the "walkers" in the district "because nobody else does it".
It was actually the first counter-protest on the street in the Fünfseenland.
The non-partisan alliance Starnberger Dialog reacted to the "walks" with a statement and a digital collection of signatures.
The group present in Gauting sees itself as “activist youth”.
The speaker warned against "nationalism", "racial hatred" and "enmity against people".
"History doesn't always repeat itself, but it does rhyme in a worrying way," he said.
He also promoted the basic principles of solidarity and looking out for others.
And he criticized: "Life-saving vaccinations are missing in poor countries."
Corona demos in the Starnberg district: Walkers demand “free vaccination decisions”
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The other, larger group with a significantly higher average age demonstrated for a “free vaccination decision” and the “restoration of basic rights”.
There was a second registered action with these goals in Starnberg.
According to the police, 160 "walkers" walked from the church square through the city center.
At 6.30 p.m. the officials then counted around 250 participants at the Schlossberghalle.
As in Gauting, everything went peacefully, according to the police, there were no reports.
Traffic was only briefly backed up on the B 2 in Starnberg when the protesters crossed the street at Tutzinger-Hof-Platz.
According to the district office, no other such events were registered in the district.
More current news from the district of Starnberg can be found here.