Riots break out during a demonstration against an AfD party conference in Baden-Württemberg. The police reports many injuries – especially in their own ranks. But there was also peaceful protest.
55 people were injured in Offenburg during violent protests against the state party conference of the AfD in Baden-Württemberg. Among them were 53 police officers and two demonstrators, as the police reported on Sunday.
Police officers suffered respiratory irritation during the riots on Saturday because they were sprayed with a fire extinguisher and because masking material, clothing and pyrotechnics burned. Other officers suffered bruises and abrasions from being punched and kicked. 17 officers were ultimately unable to work, the police reported. 20 investigations were initiated against participants in the counter-demonstration, the personal details of more than 400 participants were recorded, and more than 300 people were also sent off.
Before the riots, at least 1,200 people had peacefully protested in the city center and at the exhibition center at another demonstration. The alliance “Stand up against racism” later distanced itself from the violence at the subsequent demo. Alliance spokeswoman Jenny Haas criticized a “completely excessive police operation” – from her point of view, the city of Offenburg’s assembly authority was responsible for this. The city administration initially did not comment on the incidents on request.
Chaotic debates at the party congress
Several hundred members of the AfD Baden-Württemberg came together on Saturday for their state party conference in the city in the Ortenau district, and the meeting ended on Sunday. Due to internal resistance, the AfD in the southwest postponed a major reform of the statutes until the upcoming party congress. Among other things, it is about introducing an additional control body in the state association. The topic caused sometimes chaotic debates at the meeting.
For years, a power struggle raged among the AfD MPs in the south-west between moderate forces and supporters of the right-wing fringe. Since last July, the AfD state association has been observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected right-wing extremist. The secret service can take a closer look at the right-wing populists and, under strict conditions, observe members and monitor phones.
SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese called violent attacks on the police absolutely unacceptable. “The political dispute, even with the opponents of democracy, does not in any way justify any kind of violence,” explained Wiese in Berlin.
Source: Stern
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