At the left-wing “Take back the Night” demonstration on the evening of Walpurgis Night in Berlin-Kreuzberg, the police were attacked with bottles and fireworks. The police tweeted that on Sunday evening, and Tagesspiegel reporters also observed the scenes.
A stone was also thrown at the police. Police officers on the fringes of the demonstration were repeatedly hit and kicked, said a police spokeswoman. Several people were arrested.
According to initial police information, around 3,300 participants took part in the demonstration, which according to the announcement was only to be attended by women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people – essentially everyone who is discriminated against by the patriarchy.
“Get out, get out”
There were chants towards the police like “Get lost, get lost” or “All of Berlin hates the police”. Firecrackers were set off and Bengal fire burned out. Police chief Barbara Slowik was also on site.
The police stopped the demonstration several times on the way from Mariannenplatz in the direction of the Schlesisches Tor and called for peacefulness. In some cases, the police took umbrellas from demonstrators who used them as privacy screens. In the call to the demonstration, all participants were asked to bring umbrellas.
The mood was noticeably tense on both sides. The police kept trying to pull individual participants out of the march. The demonstrators formed chains to prevent this. In the case of an arrest, the police also continued physical coercion: emergency services brought a person to the ground, temporarily kneeling on her.
However, the train passed the newly built police station at Kottbusser Tor without any escalations. That was feared because the Kottiwache is considered a hate object in the left-wing scene. There was also an aggressive mood at the demo overall, especially at the beginning. However, there was no major escalation, and overall the police tactics worked. (with dpa)
