Cops blamed for violence
German police in line of fire after far-right protest in Chemnitz, Germany leaves six injured.
German police and security officials faced criticism following violence during a far-right protest in the eastern city of Chemnitz that left at least six people injured.
The protest late Monday, sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend, erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters.
The German news agency dpa reported that Chemnitz police acknowledged having mobilised too few officers for the demonstration.
Footage showed officers struggling to prevent far-right protesters breaking through police lines.
The protesters also performed Nazi salutes and chanted “the national resistance is marching here!”
The eastern state of Saxony, where Chemnitz is located, has long been a hotbed of anti-migrant sentiment.
The opposition Green party accused Germany’s interior minister, Horst Seehofer, of fanning anti-migrant sentiments in recent months and urged him to think about resigning in the wake of the violence.
Green lawmaker Konstantin von Notz told the news portal t-online.de that the violence in Chemnitz recalled events in other parts of eastern Germany during the early 1990s, when authorities failed to stop far-right mobs from attacking migrants.
Chemnitz police said they have arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old Iraqi on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of the German man after a street festival early Sunday.
Prosecutor Christine Muecke said the killing was preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.
On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert strongly condemned Sunday’s violence.
“What was seen yesterday in parts of Chemnitz and what was recorded on video have no place in our country,” Seibert told reporters in Berlin.
“People ganging up, chasing people who look different from them or who come from elsewhere ... is something we won’t tolerate.
“This has no place in our cities, and I can say for the German government that we condemn this in the sharpest possible manner.”
Seibert also criticised a far-right lawmaker who suggested that German authorities were unable to protect citizens.
“There is no place in Germany for vigilantism, for groups that want to spread hatred on the streets, for intolerance and racism,” Seibert said. — AP