Police are out in force expecting large protests in Chemnitz. Far-right and anti-immigrant groups have called for a silent march through its streets in memory of a man whose murder last weekend has been blamed on two migrants. A large counter-demonstration is expected.
An anti-migrant "silent march," organised by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the anti-Islam PEGIDA group and the far-right group Pro Chemnitz, takes place in Chemnitz on Saturday, September 1. A counter-protest has been called by leftist groups.
Protests have been flaring up in the eastern German city, with at least six people being injured in riots on August 27, after a 35 year-old Cuban-German man was killed in a reported dispute in the early hours of August 26.
Two male suspects from Iraq and Syria, aged 22 and 23, have since been arrested.
Police are expecting at least 10,000 demonstrators and have recruited reinforcements from around the country, forcing the nearby city of Dresden to cancel a popular soccer match and divert police to Chemnitz instead.
“The situation is still very calm, but people are still gathering,” a spokeswoman for the Chemnitz police told The Wall Street Journal. “There are several demonstrations planned tonight.”
Imagine the fury if that crowd got Truck-of-Peaced right now.
Josiah Hughes
would love to see/10
Ryder Carter
The demonstrations erupted a week ago after the fatal stabbing of a local man, whom police only identified as Daniel H., allegedly by two men, one from Syria and the other from Iraq. The protests have revealed how deep divisions run in Germany after an influx of nearly two million refugees and migrants seeking work, many from Syria, since 2015. Anger over the government’s response to the refugee crisis catapulted a populist, right-wing party, the Alternative for Germany, into parliament, becoming the biggest opposition party.
The refugee crisis in the summer of 2015 brought the simmering anger on the right against Chancellor Angela Merkel to a boil. The populist AfD blamed Ms. Merkel for opening the gates and allowing refugees to flood into the country. After the fatal stabbing last Sunday, AfD officials said Ms. Merkel had blood on her hands.