Germany Condemns Storming of Parliament At Anti-Corona Protest
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Germany’s government has condemned attempts by activists of a massive protest against Coronavirus restrictions to storm the nation’s parliament building.
The attack at the Reichstag Building in Berlin was among several incidents overshadowing a broader rally over the weekend in the capital attended by at least tens of thousands of people.
Demonstrators, described by media as having far-right sympathies, broke through a police cordon. They ran up the steps of the parliament building before police dispersed them.
The interior minister said there should be “zero tolerance” for such behavior.
Among those trying to storm the complex were reportedly protestors bearing the flag of former imperial Germany – used by the Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) far-right group.
Separately, hundreds of people were detained by Berlin police with authorities saying that marchers failed to keep their distance and wear masks as instructed.
PRESIDENT KENNEDY REMEMBERED
Despite the turmoil, a rally-related gathering went ahead nearby at the Victory Column in the Tiergarten park with anti-vaccine campaigner Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
He said U.S. media accused him of “ speaking to Nazis,” adding that the protestors were “clearly not Nazis.”
Kennedy praised the crowd for pushing back against what he called efforts to spread fear in the pandemic and impose a new surveillance state.
Half a century after his uncle visited then divided Berlin during the Cold War, Kennedy delighted the crowd by repeating his uncle’s most famous slogan, but in a very different context.
“Today Berlin is once again a front against totalitarianism,” he said to huge cheers. “And that is why I’m proud to say, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’”
The protests came amid mounting concerns in European nations by critics who claim governments use the COVID-19 pandemic to control populations. Germany reported just over 9,000 coronavirus-related deaths on a population of roughly 83 million people.
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