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Germany: Feminists and squatters kick off early May Day protests in Berlin
Ugh. More Black Bloc nonsense, whatever they call themselves. Happy May Day, y’all. [DW] Thousands of people marched through the German capital to protest against violence against women ahead of May Day. The crowd dispersed following festivities with the police.Following a couple of years of limited actions due to the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)  ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...pandemic, Berliners erupted into the streets on Saturday to launch this year's May Day protests and festivities. A feminist demonstration marched under the slogan of "Take back the night" protesting violence against women. German news agency DPA estimated that around 2,500 people were taking part in the march, accompanied by a heavy police presence. Hundreds of protesters also took part in various other activities around the city on Saturday, including protests against rising rent, and the planned opening of a new cop shoppe in the neighborhood of Kreuzberg. Earlier on Saturday morning, a group of housing activists occupied a vacant hostel in the center of the capital before police evicted them. "While thousands of people live in crappy mass accommodation, are pitted against each other and have no safe home, 80 rooms have stood here empty for years," the Hotels to Housing group wrote on Twitter. Berlin has a long history of May Day marches and protests, and large demonstrations are expected for Sunday, May 1 — a day traditionally celebrated by the left for its historical significance to the workers' movement. A "revolutionary May Day demo" is planned for Sunday evening with police warning of potential violence at an "autonomous," or anarchist, protest in the capital. But Saturday's main event was the feminist march through Berlin. While this kicked off peacefully, arrests were also reported. Protesters reportedly chanted "No God, no state, no patriarchy." A news hound for the Berlin Tagesspiegel newspaper wrote on Twitter that the first festivities occurred as police tried to forcefully remove individuals from the protest. The protest then spontaneously dissolved, leaving the police surprised, according to reports. This came after reports of repeated festivities between protesters and the police. BERLIN PREPARED FOR OUTBREAKS OF VIOLENCE Berlin Interior Minister Iris Spranger told the public broadcaster RBB that some 6,000 coppers were being deployed for the weekend. Officers have also been brought in from other German states, although protests are also expected in other major German cities. She said that the police would "intervene massively if it came to festivities." "Of course, we know that it could come to violence, and it most probably will," she told the radio station. Posted by: trailing wife 2022-05-01 |
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