New protests against Corona rules smaller than expected

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In many German cities, critics of the restrictions imposed by the corona pandemic took to the streets again on Saturday. The protests were mostly peaceful.

Almost everywhere, however, significantly fewer people demonstrated than registered. Take Stuttgart, for example: Several dozen people took part in a protest, and more demonstrators came later. Originally 500 participants had registered. The previous weekend the nationwide largest protest had gathered in Stuttgart. Despite an original ban in the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, the AfD is allowed to demonstrate against the corona restrictions on Sunday.

In Berlin, television chef Attila Hildmann was temporarily arrested on the way to a rally at the Chancellery. He was accused of violating the Assembly and Infection Protection Laws, a police spokeswoman said. The cook, known for his vegan recipes, was most recently noticed with the spread of conspiracy theories in the Corona crisis. According to police, a three-digit number of people gathered around Hildmann at the Lustgarten in Berlin-Mitte. The impression had arisen that he wanted to start with them – but it was not permitted to use an elevator.

The officials had informed him and announced measures that would then have been implemented, said the spokeswoman. However, Hildmann had been released again – and forces had then taken him to the place where he held a rally in which, according to a dpa reporter, more than 100 people took part. There were also some counter-demonstrators. Hildmann said of the events surrounding his arrest that he had been recognized and that a crowd of people had formed around him. The officials had blocked the ways. When asked about the legal basis, he was “violently arrested”. He has wounds and bruises. The police did not comment.

Overall, the police in the capital were deployed with around 1,100 forces, and had prepared for numerous demonstrations against the corona measures and counter-protests. At a rally of opponents of the Corona measures at the Großer Stern in the afternoon, there were initially only a few participants. Another demonstration under the motto “Homeland and World Peace” at noon had been ended by the organizer, according to the police, after the participants had not complied with the requirements. Only 50 participants were allowed, but there were probably almost 100.

In Hamburg, a water cannon was deployed on the sidelines of a demonstration with around 750 participants under the motto “Vigil for the Basic Law”. As the police said, such an unauthorized counter-protest should be resolved. Despite being asked to do so, 120 people would not have left. Several Hamburg organizations had called for counter-demonstrations, as they said they expected radical right-wing tendencies at the rally.

Hundreds of people demonstrated against the corona restrictions in North Rhine-Westphalia – here too, according to police, mostly fewer demonstrators than expected by the demo applicants. Around 360 of the originally 1,000 registered participants came together for a demonstration in Essen, and around 250 demonstrators gathered in Cologne for a human chain.

In Hesse, too, people took to the streets in several cities to protest against the restrictions. At a demonstration in Frankfurt under the motto “Hands off the Basic Law”, the police counted several hundred participants. There was also a protest against this event, which was somewhat smaller. In Erfurt, around 40 people demonstrated peacefully against restrictions on fundamental rights in the wake of the corona pandemic. A counter rally attracted around 50 participants.

According to the police, around 130 critics met in Hanover on Saturday by afternoon. About 30 people spontaneously gathered for a counter demonstration. According to a police spokeswoman, around 170 people took to the streets in Bremen in the afternoon under the motto “Our basic rights, which are guaranteed in the Basic Law”. Almost 150 people demonstrated against it.

The demonstrations against corona policy announced in Bavaria literally fell into the water. A thunderstorm swept across the grounds on Munich’s Theresienwiese, so the organizers decided to cancel their protest. Also in Nuremberg, instead of the announced 500 people in rainy weather, only a few «sprinkled» were seen, said a police spokesman.

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