AGI – Heavy clashes between protesters and police outside the Congress of the far-right German party Alternative fur Deutschland: two police officers were seriously injured. The congress is taking place today and tomorrow in a covered arena in Essen, Western Germany, with around 600 delegates reconfirming the leadership of Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel for two years. All protests organized by the party’s opponents outside the Congress approximately 100 thousand people participate.
The incident occurred in the afternoon near the Grugahalle, the Essen city hall where the AfD meeting is held, according to a statement from the North Rhine-Westphalia police. “Unknown assailants kicked two police officers in the head and continued to beat them when they were on the ground.”
The two men, “seriously injured”, were hospitalized. Seven other officers were slightly injured. The perpetrators of the attack managed to escape. Earlier in the morning, 11 other officers were attacked by hooded protesters. “We need strong democratic forces and peaceful protests against right-wing extremism and racism,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote in X.
“Nothing justifies violence,” he concluded. In the last European elections the far-right party obtained around 16% of the votes, more than the SPD by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In response to the expected protests in Essen today, around a thousand police officers were mobilized. Most of the protesters marched peacefully with banners and signs.
