dpa Picture-Alliance
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NOS News•today, 20:48
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Some 3,000 people have blocked a protest march by neo-Nazis in the German city of Mainz, reports the Southgerman newspaper. About fifty members of the Neue Stärke Partei (NSP) planned to march through the center of the city.
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Police stopped the group on the outskirts of the city “due to strong counter-protests”. The group of counter-protesters consisted of thousands of members of anti-racist and anti-fascist parties, denominations and trade unions.
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Mayor Michael Ebling gave a speech at the central station. He said there is no place in Mainz for people who openly make Nazi statements. “You have to pack your brown backpack and go back home,” he said. He argued that there should be a clear limit to anti-democratic and fascist forces.
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Pepper spray used
About the number of protesters, he said: “It doesn’t matter if it’s ten, twenty, fifty or a hundred. It also started with small numbers in the 1920s. It ended in barbarism and brought millions of people to the gas chambers.”
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When the police wanted to stop the NSP, some disturbances arose. A police spokesperson told the newspaper that several people wanted to break the blockade. Pepper spray was used to stop the group. Several protesters suffered from eye problems and had to be treated.
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A local journalist was at the outbreak of the disturbances:
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