Despite a ban on gatherings, there are numerous people in Dresden who demonstrate against the Corona measures – and violate them. The situation is tense, the police are cracking down on them.
In Dresden, hundreds of critics of the Corona measures gathered on Saturday despite the ban on the “lateral thinking” demonstration. “We have been on the road since the early hours of the morning to enforce the ban,” said a police spokesman on Saturday. The situation is “very dynamic”, around 1,800 police officers are on duty.
In the early afternoon, several hundred people had gathered in front of the congress center near the state parliament. The right-wing group “Heidenauer Wavelength” had actually registered a rally there. According to the police, there were far more than the registered 150 participants.
Officials use pepper spray
They criticized the corona measures with sayings, many did not wear a mask. According to a dpa reporter in the early afternoon, the events were at times confusing and the mood was tense. The police repeatedly asked people to leave the place. Officials had to use pepper spray after demonstrators attacked them, reports the Sächsische Zeitung.
According to a dpa reporter, a train of a good 1,000 people finally started moving towards the Ostragehege – there were repeated calls like “The pandemic is over”. The police blocked roads to stop the train. The police tweeted water cannons on the way to the Ostragehege.
Protesters attack police officers
There they should secure the vaccination center, it said. Apparently “lateral thinkers” have overrun a police cordon, writes the “Sächsische Zeitung”. Videos of crowds and demonstrators attacking police officers can be seen on Twitter. Numerous people who had violated the Corona Protection Ordinance received a complaint, the police wrote on Twitter.
Several politicians showed their incomprehension towards the demo participants on Twitter, such as Saxony’s Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Dulig (SPD): “Shocking images from Dresden (…). Police officers are brutally attacked. Anyone who goes to this forbidden demo makes themselves in common with the crimes committed. ” Saxony’s CDU General Secretary Alexander Dierks also condemned the violence: “So-called lateral thinkers show their true colors: violent extremists at work,” he tweeted.
Germany-wide demos against corona measures
On Saturday night, the Saxon Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Bautzen confirmed the ban on the “lateral thinking” demonstration planned for Saturday afternoon. The officials assumed in advance that, despite the ban, spontaneous actions would be mobilized in the scene.
The Königsufer, on which the “lateral thinking” demo was originally supposed to take place, was cordoned off over a large area, and numerous access roads were closed. Among other things, a police helicopter was in use.
On Saturday, people gathered in several major German cities to demonstrate against the corona restrictions. Around 2,000 people came together in Düsseldorf, around 1,000 in Berlin and around 800 in Hanover. In Munich, the police broke up a demonstration with several thousand participants because the requirements were not being met.
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