Party conference escalates
First riots before AfD party conference in Essen
On the fringes of the AfD national party conference in Essen, 28 police officers were injured in clashes between police and counter-demonstrators, one of them seriously. This was announced by the Essen police on Saturday evening. An AfD man is said to have bitten a demonstrator on the leg.
According to the police, several tens of thousands of people had taken part in a total of 32 counter-demonstrations since Friday evening. For the most part, they had demonstrated peacefully for their cause.
However, larger groups of people, sometimes numbering several hundred, repeatedly attempted to prevent the delegates from taking part or to break through barriers by means of violent disruptive actions. "As part of these violent actions, our colleagues repeatedly had to make use of batons and irritant gas," explained the police.
Pepper spray was used
In one case, police officers escorted a delegate to the Grugahalle. They were attacked by around 200 people. One police officer suffered serious injuries and demonstrators were also injured, for example by pepper spray.
Left-wing groups had already announced in advance that they would block the entrances to the party conference grounds from the early hours of the morning, thus blocking the way for the 600 or so delegates. And so it was - the first protest marches started shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Several members of the Bundestag reported that they had been picked up by the police at their hotel and taken to the venue. Others were led individually to the hall under heavy police protection, harassed by demonstrators. Three AfD politicians even had to hide in a bakery to get to safety from the demonstrators.
Attacks on law enforcement officers
But it was not only politicians who had to watch out for demonstrators. 28 police officers were injured in the course of the operations after people tried to break through barriers. "There was some resistance and physical attacks on police officers," it said.
"He bit me!"
According to Der Spiegel, an AfD delegate allegedly attacked a demonstrator and bit him on the leg. The politician allegedly got out of a car, ran towards the demonstrators and then fell to the ground. In the course of the scuffle, eyewitnesses reportedly heard the shout "He bit me!". A video is also said to show Stefan Hrdy spitting at a female demonstrator from the car.
Party conference started with delays
However, some delegates also managed to get to the Grugahalle on foot completely unmolested. Due to multiple delays, opening speaker Alice Weidel only took to the lectern at 10.28 am. Germany had "degenerated into a pony farm", the right-wing populist fired off a rant.
The AfD elected a new federal executive at the party conference. The leadership duo Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla sought re-election - and the dual leadership remains in place. There were no opposing candidates.
AfD leader Weidel with a disgraceful result
Tino Chrupalla received 82.7 percent of the vote in Essen on Saturday, while co-chair Alice Weidel received 79.8 percent. The delegates had previously voted in favor by a large majority.
In her speech, Weidel used a soccer metaphor and spoke of a "coaching team" in the party leadership. Perhaps she wanted to take the wind out of the sails of party friends who suspect that she wants to push Chrupalla aside and position herself as the top candidate for the Bundestag elections.
The failed European election campaign, the handling of the then top candidate Maximilian Krah and the AfD's course in European and foreign policy were also discussed.
Party atmosphere and peaceful protest on Friday
A protest camp was set up, participants in a rave marched through the city center on Friday and demonstrated before the party conference even began.
Pepper spray and water cannon
But on Saturday morning, the atmosphere was already more heated and the police had to intervene in the early hours of the morning, using pepper spray, batons and water cannons against demonstrators (see video above and tweets).
"Hunt" for politicians
The first arrests of masked people were made. Some AfD politicians and eyewitnesses reported a veritable "hunt". The right-wing extremist Markus Frohnmaier even climbed over a barrier to be able to attend the party conference (see tweet below).
"Nazis fuck off, nobody misses you"
Sit-in blockades prevented AfD politicians from accessing the event site. "Nazis fuck off, nobody misses you", was written on posters. (Peaceful) nude demonstrators were spotted and 20,000 people had been marching to the venue since around 11 am.
Up to 100,000 demonstrators were expected over the course of Saturday, with 1000 left-wing extremists also expected.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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