Right-wing activists attempted to storm the German parliament on Saturday as part of a day-long protest against the government’s pandemic restrictions, but were removed by police from the staircase of the Reichstag building, as shown in videos posted by demonstrators on social media.
Responding to the incident, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier blasted the protesters' move as "an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy".
"We will never accept that. Our democracy is alive", he posted alongside a picture of the parliament building.
Nothing to see here. Just German police unable to keep rightwing extremists from storming the steps of the Bundestag. One can only imagine the amount of tear gas and water canons that would have been used against Antifa protests trying to do the same thing... https://t.co/ZRuARGpJ9x
— Tarik Abou-Chadi (@tabouchadi) August 29, 2020
During today’s Protests in Berlin, Anti-Merkel Protesters, waving German Empire and Russian Federation flags, tried to storm the Reichstag Building (the German Parliament to those who don't know) in Berlin, Germany. pic.twitter.com/P2mV95L7mH
— Tony (@Mrtdogg) August 29, 2020
Die Teilnehmer am Reichstag haben erneut die Absperrungen durchbrochen und sind die Treppen hochgestürmt. Massiver Einsatz von Pfefferspray durch die Polizei. #b2908 pic.twitter.com/tTqGd6K8Wq
— ENDSTATION RECHTS. (@ER_MV) August 29, 2020
Olaf Scholz, a candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, likewise lambasted the protestors who headed to the steps of the Reichstag parliament building, with some of them waving the German Empire flags.
"It is unacceptable that some now appear in front of the Bundestag building, the Reichstag building, the most important symbol of our democracy, the parliament, with symbols from a bad dark past, flags that have nothing to do with our modern democracy," Scholz said.
Footage of the incident showed hundreds of people, some waving the flag of the German Empire of 1871-1918 (Second Reich), running toward the Reichstag building and then up the stairs.
Police confirmed that several activists had broken through a cordon in front of the parliament and managed to proceed on to the stairs, but did not enter the building. Stones and bottles were thrown as the protesters were forcefully pushed back, police commented.
The interior minister, Horst Seehofer, has since denounced what he claimed were acts of vandalism, arguing that being the workplace of the country’s parliament, the Reichstag building is “the symbolic centre of our liberal democracy”. “It’s unbearable that vandals and extremists should misuse it”, Seehofer said in a statement calling on authorities to show zero tolerance to such protests.
Earlier on Saturday, thousands of demonstrators threw bottles at police cordoning off the Russian Embassy. Law enforcement detained about 300 people throughout the day, German media reported.
Berlin authorities had initially moved to ban the protests, warning that the demonstrators could use the gathering as a political platform and citing other anti-mask rallies earlier this month where crowds ignored the introduced measures meant to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, protest organisers appealed against the decision on Friday: a law court permitted them to proceed, albeit respecting social distancing measures. However, failure to meet the rule prompted Berlin police to dissolve the gathering.
The authorities said the anti-corona march drew about 38,000 protesters, as people from across the country headed to Berlin to voice their dissatisfaction with the recent lockdown and the still-applying anti-corona measures, like wearing face masks and physical distancing, as well as the German government at large.
According to The Guardian, some could be seen donning T-shirts promoting conspiracy theories like QAnon, alleging that a network of Satan-worshiping paedophiles are running a global child sex-trafficking ring and that it is ostensibly plotting against President Donald Trump, who has to battle them.
Germany has, meanwhile, seen a severe uptick in new COVID cases in recent weeks. As per the country’s disease control agency, Germany recorded almost 1,500 new infections on Friday. Angela Merkel’s government has been largely lauded for its handling of the pandemic, as the country’s death toll of around 9,300 people is less than a quarter of the amount of people who have died of the infectious disease across the UK.
Opinion polls cited by German media show overwhelming support for the anti-coronavirus prevention measures introduced by the authorities, such as the requirement to wear masks on public transport, in all public spaces like stores, educational institutions, and libraries.
