Right-wing extremists want to hijack the protest

On Monday evening tens of thousands of people across Germany took to the streets to show their displeasure with the state Corona measures. In the capital alone, over a dozen such events took place in different parts of the city. The right-wing extremist organization Patriotic Opposition Europe had registered a “walk” in Berlin-Mitte under the name “Lauf-Demo”. The police estimate that 750 people took part.

The starting point of the said demonstration is Alexanderplatz. The first rally will also take place there. The vaccination requirement is a threat, it says there. The speaker’s words, it seems, are grist to the mill of the demonstrators: They applaud.

When the train starts moving towards the Brandenburg Gate, one understands why the “strollers” call themselves such: There are relatively few posters and flags to be seen, and a few participants shout “Peace, freedom, no dictatorship!” or «Let our children be children again!». Some people carry candles in their hands. “I want to shed light on the darkness,” says a protester.

The protesters are a diverse group

It is difficult to assign people to a political direction on the basis of external characteristics. From a purely visual point of view, it seems to be a cross-section of society: younger people, older people, women with headscarves, people in wheelchairs. Others have a beer bottle in hand or a dog on a leash. A man carries an Antifa flag, a lady a gym bag with the words “Fck Nzs” on it. One looks in vain for the black, white and red imperial flag, which is popular with right-wing extremists. No other right-wing extremist symbolism can be seen either.

Perhaps some people run under the “false flag”, so they want to give the impression of being left, even though the demonstration was registered by a right-wing extremist organization. Conversations and observations, however, tend to suggest that people do not have a right disposition, but that every means is right for them to make themselves heard.

Many people may not know who they have joined. In the messenger service Telegram, the “walk” in Berlin-Mitte had been announced in several groups without the organizer having been explicitly named. On the side of the Berlin police, one could only find out the name of the demonstration: “Running demo”.

The imminent vaccination requirement drives people onto the streets

Around half of the participants adhere to the mask requirement. «Have your certificate ready in case the police come!», The organizers say in the direction of the maskless. The mask requirement can be avoided with a corresponding certificate. During the “walk”, the rules of distance are largely adhered to, but the rally that follows is less successful.

Why do people take to the streets on a cold, damp Monday evening? The debate about compulsory vaccination brought him to the demonstration, says a special education teacher. “Actually, I’ve never been to demos. I thought the Iraq war at that time was bad. Actually, I see myself politically with those over there, ”he says, pointing to around 20 counter-demonstrators from the radical left-wing Antifa. Two other women say they felt excluded by 2G. They want a free vaccination decision and refuse to let the state decide for them over their heads. The special education teacher agrees.

Antifa positioned itself on the roadside and chanted: “Hundred thousand dead people, stop thinking outside the box!” As a preventive measure, the police stand between the smaller anti-fascist groups and the “walkers”. The demonstrators respond to provocations on the part of the Antifa with shouts of “Nazis out!”.

When the demonstration train arrives in front of the ZDF capital city studio, a second rally begins. The sound becomes rougher. One wants to put the media under pressure, it echoes through the loudspeakers. The following spoke: Eric Graziani, a member of the far-right Patriotic Opposition Europe. The public broadcasting lies, so Graziani further. At times there is applause from the demonstrators.

On the way back to Alexanderplatz, the song “Sing Hallelujah!” by Dr. Alban. The song was modified and accompanied by a computer voice calling for the virologist Christian Drosten and the RKI boss Lothar Wieler to be put “in jail”. On the way back, too, small groups of anti-fascist counter-demonstrators keep forming. There are no collisions.

The right-wing extremist group’s tactics are working

The tactic of the right-wing extremist movement to take up the fears of the citizens in order to dock with the middle of society works with the demo in Berlin-Mitte. The radicals also offer a platform to people who do not belong to their ideological camp. In this respect, the participants have to put up with the question of why they have just joined this demonstration. Moderate organizations called for other “walks”.

In Berlin-Mitte it remained peaceful that evening. However, the protest on the street is unlikely to abate in the coming weeks due to the political developments surrounding the compulsory vaccination. On the contrary.