Berlin police arrest 300, disband protest against coronavirus curbs

 

A protester lights a flare in front of the Reichstag Building during a rally against the government's restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Berlin, Germany, August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Christian Mang

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin police broke up a mass protest against coronavirus curbs on Saturday and arrested 300 in the German capital after demonstrators failed to keep their distance and wear masks as instructed.

 

Around 38,000 protesters gathered for events across the city and police reported pockets of unrest, as infections rise in Europe and public frustration at measures to contain the virus grows. Similar events took place in Paris, London and elsewhere on Saturday.

 

"Unfortunately, we have no other option," Berlin police said on Twitter, adding that those taking part had failed to comply with the safety conditions of the march.

 

At a demonstration close to Brandenburg Gate, several thousand were still gathered by early evening, some throwing rocks and bottles. Police arrested around 200 protesters, Berlin's interior minister Andreas Geisel said, describing the group as "extremist". Seven police were injured.

 

Nearby, a separate protest with around 30,000 was expected to carry on until 9 p.m. because demonstrators were respecting the social distancing rules, Geisel said.

 

Police said some 3,000 officers had been deployed to control the crowds. Police had been preparing for possible violence as activists urged social media followers across Europe to arm themselves and gather in Berlin.

 

Berlin initially banned the protests but a German regional court overnight gave the final go-ahead by overruling the earlier decision.

 

Until now Germany has managed the coronavirus crisis better than many of its European counterparts, with rigorous testing helping to hold down infections and deaths. There have been more than 9,000 deaths so far.

 

But new daily infections have accelerated in recent weeks, as in much of the world.

 

On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged citizens to keep up their guard against the virus.

 

"This is a serious matter, as serious as it's ever been, and you need to carry on taking it seriously," she said.

 

Protesters had gathered before the Brandenburg Gate ahead of the march with signs reading "Stop the corona lies" and "Merkel must go".

 

Elsewhere in Europe, about 200 anti-mask activists held a rally in Paris to protest against sanitary measures with slogans such as "No to the health dictatorship" and "Let our children breathe".

 

In London, several hundred demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square calling coronavirus a hoax and demanding an end to restrictions.

 

Many carried banners saying "Fake News," or "Masks are Muzzles" and rejecting any mandatory vaccination programmes.

The virus has killed more than 40,000 people in Britain.

 

There were peaceful protests in Vienna and Zurich.

 

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)

 

(Reporting by Ralf Bode, Elke Ahlswede, Christian Goetz and Sabine Ehrhardt in Berlin; additional reporting by Tom Sims in Frankfurt, Yiming Woo in Paris and Stephen Addison in London, Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi in Zurich and François Murphy; in Vienna; writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Helen Popper, Alexandra Hudson and Clelia Oziel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-30

 

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38,000 in Berlin, 10,000+ in London, people have had enough of this complete and utter farce. David Icke made a great speech full of fantastic analogies, finishing with a poem from Shelley about Peterloo in 1819, The Masque of Anarchy. The crowd were shouting "freedom", inspiring stuff.

 

"Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.

And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there;
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew;
What they like, that let them do.

With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise,
Look upon them as they slay,
Till their rage has died away:

Then they will return with shame,
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek:

Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many—they are few!"

53 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Around 38,000 protesters gathered for events across the city and police reported pockets of unrest, as infections rise in Europe

Selfish scum.

Sadly the covid situation has thrown up a few people who have nothing better to do.....there are enough doing their 'own thing' every day, getting on with life, without having to gather and throw rocks at the police to attract attention.....I guess there are those who just cannot adapt to change however temporary

52 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

David Icke made a great speech full of fantastic analogies,

David Icke?

 

Hmmm...

They protest for the right to get sick. The health insurance should not pay anything for such people. 

A post making unsubstantiated claims has been removed.  

 

Shut up and just wear a mask.

Good for them I hope they are fined and or jailed repeat offenders should be made to work in covid wards or dig graves for the dead meanwhile here in the states trump is hosting super spreader events we are toast here till we get responsible leadership 

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Police arrested around 200 protesters, Berlin's interior minister Andreas Geisel said, describing the group as "extremist".

Sounds like a very professional response, why do US police have such difficulty with riot control.

21 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Sounds like a very professional response, why do US police have such difficulty with riot control.

Well..the presence of fake,non embodied, non well regulated "militias" might complicate the picture as would the knowledge that people may or may not be heavily armed...

 

You can own a German Pak 40, 75mm anti-tank gun in the US if you so wish..

Edited August 30, 20205 yr by Odysseus123

3 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

38,000 in Berlin, 10,000+ in London, people have had enough of this complete and utter farce. David Icke.......

Thats as far as I got reading your post, the man is away with the fairies.

Hope Thailand keeps its borders closed so we are safe from all those western Covidiots.

3 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

David Icke?

 

Hmmm...

Become a reptile, they are immune to covid, can't beat stupid.

What is going on in Berlin and also in London, Ottawa and other places around the world is much, much bigger than the Reuters article and other MSM news is reporting in today's papers.

 

And the nature of the speeches and the people attending are vastly different than is being reported.

 

I am working my way through 9 hours of raw footage of the rallies, mostly shot in Berlin. What you see in the uncut footage is enormous crowds of peaceful, clean cut men and women of all ages, standing or walking peacefully, even keeping a social distance, except in areas where the police have hemmed in the crowds making social distancing impossible for them. There are multiple very large groups that have been separated and contained by the police, making the magnitude of the peaceful protest difficult to see.

 

Reports on the ground, that are not substantiated by the MSM, are that 800,000 to one million protesters gathered in Berlin alone yesterday to listen to speeches given by prominent figures.

 

One of the most important speeches was given by a member of parliament (Green party) in which he explained how the people must be allowed to engage in public discourse and thereby to be allowed to make a stand for the truth. These are intelligent people who are being labelled immediately as stupid or worse.

 

Robert F.Kennedy Jr (JFK's nephew) was one of the speakers from the USA.

 

There are multiple national flags on display among the crowd in Berlin, including Israel.

 

Make no mistake folks, we are not being given the full facts of these protests by the MSM. I would love to link to the raw footage to allow you to make your own judgement, but alas as it is not from what ThaiVisa regards as an 'approved source (aka MSM) I cannot. LOL.

 

Edited August 30, 20205 yr by Antonymous

theres a double standard here a bunch of black marxist rioters who wrecked buildings and broke monuments were allowed to do that ,the police bowed before them!!yes and this is in europe not the USA.bristols but one example amongst many.now others after the corona is less severe are rounded up in their hundreds.something going on here a blind man can see this.they were political .not radical , not violent, not looting.we are on very thin ice here in regards to freedom democracy and free speech.it could be argued the authorities are racist by applying a different standard to different colours in the same place and time bracket.

2 hours ago, simple1 said:

Sounds like a very professional response, why do US police have such difficulty with riot control.

 

Well, it's simple, my dear Simple1:

 

in the US of A, the Democrat mayors and governors do not support the police;  they want to defund or (worse, "re-imagine" - Harris's moronic word) the brave guys (and many women) who go out every night and do what little they can to resist the tide of anarchy...

Unfortunately, there are Covidiots in every country. Overall, Germany has a very sensible, effective and pragmatic approach to fight the pandemic. The measures applied are appropriate to fight the pandemic, and never exaggerated. People who even not accept a minimum of compliance are hopeless cases. Idiots.

5 hours ago, Yinn said:

Selfish scum.

Or just plain ignorant/stupid, take your pick. Many anti-vaxxers among those protesters, and so-called “Reichsbürger”, people who don’t recognize the state of Germany and think that German laws don’t apply to them. Plus the other usual suspects who demand their freedom but fail to realize that their freedom will go at the expense of others.

5 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

David Icke?

 

Hmmm...

THE David Icke? ????

Didn't they just have a large BLM rally recently? One OK and the other not, its a political not a health decision.

 

Seems though we are basically two different groups, those that submit to and believe whatever government tells them and those that don't. Funny how through all the various government scandals we mock the corruption and stupidity of politicians, yet when they raise the swastika, most just bow down and obey.

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Around 38,000 protesters gathered for events across the city and police reported pockets of unrest, as infections rise in Europe

Evolution at work .

1 hour ago, blazes said:

 

Well, it's simple, my dear Simple1:

 

in the US of A, the Democrat mayors and governors do not support the police;  they want to defund or (worse, "re-imagine" - Harris's moronic word) the brave guys (and many women) who go out every night and do what little they can to resist the tide of anarchy...

 

pathetic attempt at insulting. As to the rest it is boring to wade through repeated reiterations of trump admin propaganda

2 hours ago, Antonymous said:

What is going on in Berlin and also in London, Ottawa and other places around the world is much, much bigger than the Reuters article and other MSM news is reporting in today's papers.

 

And the nature of the speeches and the people attending are vastly different than is being reported.

 

I am working my way through 9 hours of raw footage of the rallies, mostly shot in Berlin. What you see in the uncut footage is enormous crowds of peaceful, clean cut men and women of all ages, standing or walking peacefully, even keeping a social distance, except in areas where the police have hemmed in the crowds making social distancing impossible for them. There are multiple very large groups that have been separated and contained by the police, making the magnitude of the peaceful protest difficult to see.

 

Reports on the ground, that are not substantiated by the MSM, are that 800,000 to one million protesters gathered in Berlin alone yesterday to listen to speeches given by prominent figures.

 

One of the most important speeches was given by a member of parliament (Green party) in which he explained how the people must be allowed to engage in public discourse and thereby to be allowed to make a stand for the truth. These are intelligent people who are being labelled immediately as stupid or worse.

 

Robert F.Kennedy Jr (JFK's nephew) was one of the speakers from the USA.

 

There are multiple national flags on display among the crowd in Berlin, including Israel.

 

Make no mistake folks, we are not being given the full facts of these protests by the MSM. I would love to link to the raw footage to allow you to make your own judgement, but alas as it is not from what ThaiVisa regards as an 'approved source (aka MSM) I cannot. LOL.

 

Ahm,,,yeah,,,no!

Friend of mine who lives in Berlin, was THERE!

Hardly ANY social distancing and almost noone wearing a mask!

These covidiots wanted their demonstration...they got it under certain rules to be followed...they broke those rules (distancing, masks)...and that's the end of it!

Berlin police broke up a mass protest against coronavirus curbs on Saturday and arrested 300 in the German capital after demonstrators failed to keep their distance and wear masks as instructed.

 

You can easily find YouTube videos of the BLM protests where social distancing and mask wearing was not followed.  So is it all just political after all?  BLM protests O.K. because they are not directed at the German government but protests that are directed at the German government are not O.K.?  LOL

2 hours ago, teacherclaire said:

THE David Icke? ????

Goodness only knows...and my name's Harry Komodo..

3 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

Germany has a very sensible, effective and pragmatic approach to fight the pandemic.

LoL. You made my rainy day in Bavaria. Thank you

3 hours ago, The Barmbeker said:

Ahm,,,yeah,,,no!

Friend of mine who lives in Berlin, was THERE!

Hardly ANY social distancing and almost noone wearing a mask!

These covidiots wanted their demonstration...they got it under certain rules to be followed...they broke those rules (distancing, masks)...and that's the end of it!

 

“When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.”

― Confucius

3 hours ago, The Barmbeker said:

Ahm,,,yeah,,,no!

Friend of mine who lives in Berlin, was THERE!

Hardly ANY social distancing and almost noone wearing a mask!

These covidiots wanted their demonstration...they got it under certain rules to be followed...they broke those rules (distancing, masks)...and that's the end of it!

If it is a demonstration in which people disagree with the rules of distancing/wearing masks would you expect anyone to do them? Just saying....

20 minutes ago, vermin on arrival said:

If it is a demonstration in which people disagree with the rules of distancing/wearing masks would you expect anyone to do them? Just saying....

Exactly. It was protest against social distancing and masks, bit pointless wearing a mask as it defeats the object of the protest!

 

Don't see the difference with walking down a street with lots of people without masks and attending a protest with lots of people without masks. I see these idiots everyday walking along a street on their own wearing a mask with no one around them or even worse sitting in a car on their own wearing a mask, pointless.