In Frankfurt / Main, both supporters of the “lateral thinking” initiative and counter-demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday. The city administration had previously banned the demonstration, the Hessian Administrative Court in Kassel had confirmed the ban. An urgent application by the initiative to the Federal Constitutional Court also failed. The organizers of a “lateral thinking” demonstration in Dresden were also unsuccessful before the Federal Constitutional Court.
Police officers and protesters clash
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The Hessian court had already justified the decision against the rally in the Main metropolis with the high risk of infection. In view of the expected number of participants of around 40,000 people, it was not clear how the required minimum distances in downtown Frankfurt could be maintained. In addition, on the Saturday before the third Advent, “a high number of passers-by who do their Christmas shopping can be expected”. The applicant had not submitted a viable hygiene concept for its meetings and rejected alternative locations offered by the city of Frankfurt.
But it did not have full effect. First, two small gatherings with “a handful” of participants were broken up, as a police spokesman announced. “These were in direct context with the forbidden event,” said the spokesman. In the meantime, around 450 counter-demonstrators had met for a rally and started a march from there. According to media reports, the “lateral thinkers” had called on their supporters to come to Frankfurt despite the ban and to register spontaneous meetings.
A demonstrator who obviously denies the dangers of the pandemic and at the same time disguises himself as Santa Claus
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In the meantime, the mood became more charged when both groups met at the main guard in the city center. The police threatened to use water cannons, but were able to separate the groups. Whether or how many arrests there were is still open. The police were in action with hundreds from several federal states.
Next location: Dresden
The organizers of a “lateral thinking” demonstration in Dresden were unsuccessful before the Federal Constitutional Court, and their urgent application was also rejected. The Upper Administrative Court of Saxony in Bautzen had previously confirmed the city of Dresden’s ban. According to the police, alleged rally participants who had arrived were stopped, two buses were sent back to the motorway and a group of hooligans who behaved aggressively were taken into custody. Administrative offense proceedings were initiated against the 26 men for violating corona measures. According to the police, there were no major incidents here, the situation remained calm.
Large security contingent in Dresden
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In Erfurt, despite the court prohibition of a large assembly, about 500 people came to the Domplatz on Saturday afternoon, according to the police. According to observers, the situation escalated in part when the police tried to break up the unauthorized protest against the state’s corona measures and to determine the identities of the participants. The police had previously asked people several times to leave the square one by one. Many did not follow suit.
ml/rb (dpa, AFP, Twitter)
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