Rally in Mannheim
AfD demo attracts thousands of counter-demonstrators
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After the fatal knife attack on police officer Rouven L. in Mannheim, the AfD wants to demonstrate against Islamism on the market square. The Administrative Court prohibits the plan and moves the rally to another location. There, the participants meet around 3,300 counter-demonstrators.
Several hundred people demonstrated against Islamism at an AfD rally in Mannheim. The police said there were around 700 participants at the event, which was registered after a fatal knife attack on the market square in Mannheim last Friday (May 31). Several speakers demanded that “knife violence” should not “become the norm” in Germany. Political Islam is “the greatest threat to our security.” In addition to German flags, banners with slogans such as “Remigration now” and “Close the borders” were also visible at the rally.
The event began with a minute's silence for police officer Rouven L., who died last Sunday from injuries sustained in a knife attack. Federal President Steinmeier, Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann of the Greens and State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl of the CDU paused in silent mourning at 11:34 a.m. The parents of the killed police officer and other relatives also took part in the commemoration. According to police, around 3,300 counter-demonstrators opposed the AfD rally. Some of them had come to Paradeplatz from a rally on the Alter Messplatz. Both groups shouted chants such as “AfD, AfD” on the one hand and “Nazis out” on the other. A large police presence separated the demonstrators.
The AfD originally wanted to demonstrate on the market square – but the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg upheld a complaint by the city of Mannheim against a decision by the Administrative Court of Karlsruhe, which had previously given the green light for an AfD rally at the crime scene. The party had to move to the nearby Paradeplatz.
Last Friday, a 25-year-old Afghan man injured five participants in a rally by the anti-Islamic citizens' movement Pax Europa and the police officers with a knife on the market square. The 29-year-old officer later succumbed to his injuries.
