Motorcade in Dresden: Thousands of vaccine opponents protest in many cities

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Update
Motorcade in Dresden
Thousands of people who oppose vaccination are protesting in many cities

A week before Christmas, opponents of Corona measures take to the streets again to get rid of their displeasure with current politics. There are major protests in Hamburg, Schwerin and Düsseldorf, among others, and counter-demonstrations are also forming in many places.

Opponents and critics of Corona measures have once again taken to the streets in many German cities. Counter-protest formed in many places. According to initial findings, it was mostly peaceful. In Hamburg, according to the police, several thousand people moved in several blocks through the city center. “No to compulsory”, it said on self-made posters. According to the police, around 8,000 people were expected to attend the demonstration under the motto “The measure is full. Hands off our children”. According to observers, so many demonstrators could have gathered. The police initially did not provide a number.

Since Friday, a regulation has been in effect in the Hanseatic city, according to which masks must be worn during demonstrations. The organizers repeatedly called on the participants to remain peaceful and put on masks. Various groups had announced counter-protests.

Thousands of opponents of a corona vaccination requirement also demonstrated in Düsseldorf. The police estimated the number at around 4,000 in the early evening. The participants marched through the city center. Around 1,000 people registered. The alliance “Düsseldorf is standing across” had registered a counter-demonstration with around 200 participants. According to a police spokesman, everything remained peaceful until late afternoon. Last weekend, the authorities in Düsseldorf were surprised by the number of participants in an anti-vaccination demonstration. Instead of the registered 300, around 2500 people came, according to police.

Almost 2,000 demonstrators march through Schwerin

According to the police, around 1900 people gathered for a demo in Schwerin city center, the organizers spoke of 2300. According to a police spokeswoman, there were many families with children among the demonstrators. On posters it was said: “Stop the vaccination madness” or “To Chancellor Scholz: We are the red line”. The slogan alluded to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had repeatedly said that there are “no red lines” to contain the pandemic. According to the spokeswoman, around 40 people from the left spectrum took part in a counter rally. They then met for another spontaneous rally near the vaccination opponents and shouted anti-fascist slogans.

The state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania called for peaceful demonstrations on Friday. Personal threat scenarios or attacks of a physical or psychological nature are unacceptable and illegitimate, it said in the parliamentary decision, which was passed without dissenting votes.

Schwesig replies via Twitter

On December 6th, an unannounced demonstration marched towards Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig’s house. The police were able to lead him away shortly beforehand. Schwesig now tweeted her “response to #Corona deniers & vaccine opponents” and advertised the corona vaccinations in it. “It is the only way out of the #CoronaPandemic!” Wrote the head of government.

In view of the first infections with the omicron mutant in the country, Schwesig concluded that the corona measures were tightened in another tweet does not exclude: “Even if the number of infections is falling slightly, there is a threat of a fifth wave with #Omicron. That is why we cannot relax measures. We have to protect ourselves with boosters and expect further restrictions to occur.”

There were also demonstrations in several cities in the southwest: In Freiburg, according to the police, around 2,900 participants marched through the city center in the afternoon. 300 people gathered there for a counter-demonstration. However, it was largely peaceful, with almost all demonstrators adhering to the conditions, as a police spokesman confirmed.

Demonstrators also marched through the city center in Frankfurt and Trier. According to the police, around 185 vehicles lined up in Dresden for a rolling protest against the Corona measures through the city center. The participants had attached banners and posters to numerous vehicles in the motorcade. They then called for an end to the pandemic-related restrictions and spoke out against compulsory vaccination. “Everything remained smoothly,” said a police spokesman on request.

Despite the ban on a planned demonstration in Berlin, demonstrators gathered here at the Brandenburg Gate. The police said it was “in the lower three-digit range”. It is difficult to say exactly how many there were, as there were also numerous tourists on site. Originally 2000 people who wanted to move from the Brandenburg Gate through the government district were registered.