Christophe Gateau
The leader of the demonstration had declared the protest over on Saturday evening after he was attacked from the crowd, the police said.
The “revolutionary May Day demonstration” wanted to move from Hermannplatz in Neukölln to Kreuzberg, but part of it only came as far as Sonnenallee. The police had to defend themselves against violent attacks there. There were stones and bottles hailing against the emergency services. Rioters dragged dumpsters and pallets onto the street and set them on fire. Flames flared up again and again in different places.
Police chief Barbara Slowik condemned the violent attacks as “unacceptable”. On the May holiday, however, most of the demonstrators had proven that it was possible to demonstrate with masks and distance. It is estimated that around 30,000 people attended various meetings. There have been 240 arrests, said Slowik. According to an initial estimate, 20 emergency services were injured in the evening demonstration with 8,000 to 10,000 demonstrators. The number could still increase.
In Neukölln, police officers were repeatedly attacked in the evening when they tried to pull troublemakers out of the train. There were arrests, police officers used pepper spray. Paramedics were on duty. Participants were also arrested near the Neukölln Arcaden.
The police had initially isolated a block with black-clad demonstrators at Neukölln town hall, saying that the corona regulations had not been complied with. The group was excluded from the meeting. The «revolutionary May Day demonstration» was supposed to be directed against racism, capitalism and rent policy.
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said the violent attacks against emergency services came after the front part of the demonstration had moved on. The demonstration organizers accused the police of having separated the train on Karl-Marx-Strasse. Demonstrators were beaten for no reason.
The SPD interior expert Tom Schreiber tweeted that left and right-wing extremists don’t care about Covid-19. Both stand for the hatred and violence against police officers. “They are enemies of democracy”.
Around midnight, the situation was largely calmed, according to the police. The night curfew also applied in the capital from 10 p.m. Nevertheless, there were still numerous people in Kreuzberg on the Paul-Lincke-Ufer and in the Mauerpark. Some of them celebrated with loud music. A helicopter circled over the Mauerpark after 11 p.m.
People are spoken to and asked to go home, as a police spokeswoman said. How many reports were written for administrative offenses has not yet been determined. A police review was expected on Sunday.
On May 1st, the police were deployed across the city with a large number. About 5600 officials secured numerous demonstrations since the morning. The police in the capital were supported by officials from several federal states and the federal police. According to the police, everything was peaceful during the day. Almost 60 reports had been filed by the afternoon, mainly because of violations of the Infection Protection Act.
Unexpectedly many people took part in a kilometer-long bicycle parade through Berlin-Grunewald in the afternoon. Around 10,000 cyclists drove through the villa district. The motto of the satirical demonstration was “Put Grunewald even more lame”. One of the posters said “fair rent instead of profits”. According to the police, the action was peaceful. Originally only 2500 participants were registered.
In a protest by around 200 opponents of the Corona restrictions in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the police led more than a dozen participants aside without a mask at noon and recorded their personal details. There were reports of administrative offenses.