“Freedom of assembly is allowed, but we closely monitor compliance with the conditions under which the protest can take place and consistently punish their violation,” police said shortly before Saturday’s protest. The demonstration of an estimated 600 people ended soon because the participants did not keep a safe distance and did not have veils.
–
Meanwhile, left-wing opponents of the protesters appeared in the streets of the city center. They began to block some streets and intersections. They carried banners with them, for example, with the words “Stomp the right” or symbols of the left-wing Antifa movement, and they tried to prevent the march of the Querdenken movement. Despite the official dissolution of the event, several hundred protesters from the Querdenken movement remained in the center of Frankfurt.
–
Police said they used water cannons and batons after the protesters began attacking them and refusing to leave.
–
Querdenken movements throughout Germany have been organizing demonstrations against the government’s coronavirus measures in recent months. It is also repeatedly attended by supporters of the far right and adherents of conspiracy theories.
–
Similar demonstrations took place in Regensburg, Aichach and Karlsruhe.
—
