Several thousand demonstrators gathered in Essen to protest against the German far-right party. They organized multiple street blockades in order to disrupt the arrival of the delegates.
Two police officers were attacked and seriously injured on Saturday, June 29, by demonstrators who came to protest against the congress of the far-right AfD party in Essen, in western Germany, where delegates re-elected their duo of leaders.
The incident took place near the community hall, the “Grugahalle”, where some 550 delegates of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) are meeting until Sunday, the police of the North Rhine-Westphalia region said in a statement.
“Unknown persons kicked two police officers in the head” and continued to “hit them while they were on the ground,” she said. “Seriously injured”, the two men had to be hospitalized.
Several people arrested
Seven of their colleagues were also injured, but slightly, during the same attack. The perpetrators fled.
Eleven police officers were also attacked in the morning by protesters who were partly “hooded” during one of the many street blockades organized to disrupt the arrival of the delegates. Several people were arrested, according to the authorities.
“Against right-wing extremism and racism, we need strong democratic forces and peaceful protests,” responded Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on X. But “nothing justifies violence,” she said. she judged.
16% in European elections
A thousand police officers have been deployed to ensure security in the city, where the authorities had said they feared “potentially violent far-left troublemakers”.
This Saturday, most of the 50,000 demonstrators according to the organizers – the police did not give figures – marched peacefully, carrying banners and placards reading “Resistance!” or “Together for democracy.”
During the congress, Tino Chrupalla, who was re-elected by a landslide, as was Alice Weidel, for two more years at the head of the AfD, displayed the party’s ambition to one day gain power in Germany.
“We want to govern, first in the east, then in the west, then at the federal level” in Germany, he said.
He highlighted the progress made at local level and in the European elections, in which this party, founded in 2013, obtained the best score in its history, with almost 16% of the vote, ahead of the Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Several controversies
The AfD, a party opposed to migrants, is also expected to win regional elections in three eastern German states in September, but without reaching a score that would allow it to govern alone. However, until now, the other parties have always ruled out cooperating with it.
Tino Chrupalla regretted a missed opportunity in the European elections, when the AfD was still credited with 22% in the polls in January before losing ground following several controversies surrounding its head of list Maximilian Krah.
The leader deplored “reckless and unprofessional behavior” which cost his party votes.
Maximilian Krah, who belongs to the most radical fringe of the AfD, caused a scandal due to suspicions of proximity to Moscow and Beijing with his remarks according to which an SS was not “automatically a criminal”.
