Far-right groups marching in Germany in response to a killing created a scene.

Anti-immigrant fervor reaches unusual levels

CHEMNITZ, Germany — Police in eastern Germany halted an anti-immigration protest march that emboldened far-right activists started Saturday.

A trio of nationalist groups held separate daytime rallies in the city of Chemnitz. The two largest groups also organized a joint nighttime march, thinking a broader force might emerge from the display of unity and take hold.

If the number of people who attended is any gauge, the envisioned far-right movement was in the earliest of embryonic stages. It drew about 4,500 participants, Saxony state police reported before citing security concerns as the reason for ending the event early.

The march was stopped several times along the way as counter-protesters blocked the route and the police officers deployed to keep them and the marchers apart flooded into the street.

The opposing camps clashed in Chemnitz on Monday, the day after the fatal stabbing of the 35-year-old German citizen.

Scenes of vigilantes chasing foreigners in the city’s streets have shocked people in other parts of Germany since then.

The tension in the air reflected the polarization over Germany’s ongoing effort to come to terms with an influx of more than 1 million refugees and immigrants seeking jobs since 2015.

The protests were sparked by a fatal stabbing Aug. 26 of Daniel Hillig. Two asylum-seekers, a 22-year-old Iraqi and a 23-year-old Syrian, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, known for his anti-migrant stance, said Saturday that he understood why “the people in Chemnitz and elsewhere are upset about the brutal killing” but added “there’s no excuse for violence,” Funke Media Group reported.

“We need a strong state, and we have to do everything politically to overcome the polarization and division of our society,” Seehofer stressed.

Chemnitz, a city known for its hardened neo-Nazi scene, at first attracted a comparatively weak response to the recent anti-immigrant activity.

Tim Detzner, a member of the Left Party in Chemnitz, said the street riots this week “reached a level of aggression, brutality and willingness to use violence that we haven’t known before.”

Jens Meyer The Associated Press A protester holds a poster Saturday with a photo of Chancellor Angela Merkel reading “Merkel must go” and alleging she is guilty of incitement in Chemnitz, eastern Germany.