Two police officers were attacked and seriously injured in Essen on Saturday June 29 by demonstrators present to protest against the far-right AfD party, which is holding its congress in this city in western Germany.
This incident – which comes after a European campaign marked by violence against elected officials – took place near the community hall, the Grugahalle, where some 550 delegates from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), police in the North Rhine-Westphalia region said in a statement.
“Unknown people kicked two police officers in the head” and continued to “hit them while they were on the ground”she said. “Seriously injured”, both men had to be hospitalized. Seven of their colleagues were also injured, but slightly, during the same attack. The perpetrators fled.
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Eleven police officers were also attacked in the morning by protesters in part “hooded” during one of the multiple street blockades organized to disrupt the arrival of delegates from the far-right party. Several people were arrested, according to authorities. A thousand police officers have been mobilized to ensure security in the city, where the authorities had said they feared “potentially violent far-left disruptors”.
“Against right-wing extremism and racism, we need strong democratic forces and peaceful protests”reacted the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, on X. But “nothing justifies violence”she judged.
Peaceful demonstration against AfD
On Saturday, however, most of the 50,000 anti-AfD protesters according to the organizers – the police did not give figures – marched peacefully, carrying banners and placards reading: « Résistance ! » or “Together for democracy”.
During the AfD congress, Tino Chrupalla, who was re-elected hands down, as well as Alice Weidel, for two more years at the head of the AfD, displayed the party’s ambition to achieve a day in power in Germany. “We want to govern, first in the East, then in the West, then at the federal level” German, he said.
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He highlighted the progress made at the local level and in the European elections, at the end of which this party born in 2013 obtained the best score in its history, with nearly 16% of the vote, ahead of the chancellor’s social-democratic party. Olaf Scholz. And this despite the scandals which punctuated the campaign of the far-right movement.
The AfD, a party hostile to migrants, is also expected to win the regional elections in three Länder in eastern Germany in September, but without achieving a score that would allow it to govern alone. However, until now, the other parties have always ruled out cooperating with it.
