Police estimate that around 50,000 counter-demonstrators will come to the city this weekend to mark the planned establishment of the AfD youth organization at the Hessenhallen in Giessen. Federal police, riot police and officers from 14 federal states will support Hessian police, said Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU). The mobilization is one of the largest in Germany to date, said operations manager Jürgen Fehl. Central Hessian police chief Torsten Krückemeier called on meeting participants to treat emergency services with respect: “Non-peaceful protests are contrary to our democratic values, endanger human lives and undermine our society and democracy.”
By these participants’ estimates, the minister and the police exceeded the figures previously circulating on the Internet. There are talks with up to 40,000 participants. According to the minister, so far 23 organizers have registered counter demonstrations and democracy festivals at city hall. This will be the biggest police operation of the weekend in Germany, Poseck said. This poses particular challenges for emergency services.
Because the estimated number of counter-demonstrators exceeded half of the population of the university town. Given Giessen’s size, an elevator carrying 50,000 people is not comparable to conditions in a much larger city, Fehler said. In addition, the weekly market in the city center will generally be open. This also applies to shops on the Seltersweg shopping street and surrounding locations.
Concerns about “mobilization on the left”
The police will be represented by several thousand emergency services in the city area. Half of the police officers come from locations in Hesse. Like Krückemeier before him, Error talks about the middle four-digit number without being more specific. These efforts will not be as large as those undertaken at the opening of the new ECB in Frankfurt in March 2015, which saw excessive violence, mainly by left-wing demonstrators, in various parts of the city. “But we’re not that far apart,” Fehl said. At that time, around 17,000 people from all over Germany and abroad took to the streets in Frankfurt.
Poseck said he was concerned about “mobilization on the left.” He referred specifically to the appeal on the “Barricade” website from Switzerland, which was shared via the “Indymedia” portal. The anonymous letter stated that the blockade of action announced by the German national action alliance “Widerstellen” was not enough of a sign of resistance. “Make the water burn,” he continued in half a sentence. Police knew nothing about the arrival of right-wing extremist violent criminals, the police chief said when asked.
Interior Minister Krückemeier and the operations manager emphasized the police’s duty to protect and enforce fundamental rights. Freedom of assembly is a valuable legal asset and applies to counter-demonstrators and AfD supporters in Hessenhallen. The police will not tolerate “preventive blockades”. On the contrary, the government will try to prevent them and, if necessary, resolve them within the framework of proportionality. This also applies to sit-ins before the weekend, Error said when asked. With the sit-in around the site of the AfD youth conference, the “Resist” action alliance wants to disrupt their meeting as much as possible, as speakers have explained several times. But rescue workers didn’t want to prevent it. He also said the situation “will not escalate.”
Even though there are restrictions, it is as normal as possible
Fehl would not say how police wanted to ensure AfD supporters could come to Hessenhallen. “I assume the AfD will have difficulty reaching the meeting room,” he said.
Police want to ensure things are as normal as possible despite the restrictions associated with the counter-protest. Therefore, the city center is generally accessible. However, the police will set up checkpoints on the access road. Error: “Motorist diverted there, we’ll see what happens next.”
