Thousands of AfD opponents expected in Riesa – reports of violence

Thousands of AfD opponents want to protest in Riesa this weekend, and on Saturday morning there were already the first reports of violent actions in the Saxon city on the Elbe. As the German Press Agency reports, the situation is partly heated.

The police partially cleared a sit-in blockade at an intersection leading to the entrance to the B169 on Rostocker Straße. According to a dpa reporter, irritant gas was also used to drive out surrounded police cars.

Demonstrators had unscrewed the tire valves of several police cars and, according to reporters, had stuck stickers on the emergency vehicles. On the sidelines of another protest, pyrotechnics flew in the direction of the police. According to police, the federal highway was still closed late in the morning.

Up to 10,000 demonstrators are expected in Riesa; according to information, they will arrive from around 70 cities in more than 100 buses. The police are also expecting violent demonstrators and have set up a control area in the city.

“Today we are filling Riesa’s streets with diversity, solidarity and openness and are gathering en masse in front of the entrances to the AfD party conference,” said Mascha Meier from the Action Alliance Resist. The group said the arrival of AfD delegates was hindered at several points.

In Riesa, the AfD wants to elect party and parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel as the first candidate for chancellor in its history. In addition, the approximately 600 delegates should adopt the program for the federal election on February 23rd. The draft particularly envisages an exit from the euro and a tough course in migration policy.

In current surveys, the AfD is in second place nationwide at around 18 to 21 percent. Weidel has already derived a claim to government from this on several occasions – but the other parties have ruled out a coalition.

The police announced on Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) was informed about the situation in Riesa in the police situation center in Dresden this morning.

A large police force is on site, water cannons are also in position, and a helicopter is circling over the city. According to the police, there had already been a few attempts to break through barriers when they arrived in the morning. Among other things, the demonstrators want to block the access roads and the entrances to the conference venue – the WT Energiesysteme Arena. The entrances were cordoned off by barriers and police.