The police enforced the ban on demonstrations in Leipzig with a large contingent on Saturday. However, as darkness fell, arson broke out. Among other things, several vehicles were set on fire in front of a car dealership.
After the ban on three left-wing demonstrations in Leipzig, there were individual incidents on Sunday night, especially in the south of the city. According to the police, five vehicles belonging to a car dealership were set on fire in Richard-Lehmann-Straße at around 0:22 am. Police arrested two men and two women aged between 18 and 24 at the scene. No one was injured, but there was property damage in the lower six-figure range. In the west of Leipzig, two cars also burned in Neue Gutenbergstraße. It was a similar story in Große Fleischergasse, where one car was on fire and four other cars were damaged by the heat.
Police pelted with stones
There was further action in the Bornaische Straße area. According to MDR reporters, there was an attempt at a spontaneous demonstration there at 11 pm, but it failed. Around 0:40 a.m., a trash bin as well as branches and wooden slats burned in the street. Several people blocked the tram with them. When the police tried to extinguish and remove the barricade, the officers were pelted with stones, according to reporters. A short time later, a squad of hundreds arrived with water cannons and evacuation tanks. According to the reports, the stone-throwers fled. An allegedly uninvolved drunk man who was warming his hands by the fire was arrested.
According to the police, there was also damage to property shortly after 2 a.m. in Kantstraße, when two 23-year-old women smeared a bank agency with tar and threw stones at it. They were apprehended by the police. The amount of property damage is not yet known. In addition, police discovered a 31-year-old man in Georg-Schwarz-Straße who had sprayed graffiti on several trams. He is being investigated for damage to property.
With a large contingent, the police had enforced the ban of several demonstrations of the left-wing scene on Saturday. Under the motto “All together – autonomous, resistant, irreconcilable!”, participants wanted to walk in a march to a final rally in Connewitz. Because riots and violence were feared, the city of Leipzig had banned the demonstrations. The administrative court confirmed this on Thursday.
2,000 police officers enforce ban on demonstrations
A total of more than 2,000 police officers were deployed on Saturday, according to the Leipzig police directorate. The local police were supported by police from Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein and the federal police. In the meantime, the police controlled the arriving traffic. In the process, 70 vehicles and 130 people were checked. According to the police, two bans were issued.
Criticism of massive police presence
In the social media, many sharply criticised the large police presence. Jürgen Kasek, a lawyer and Green Party city councillor, wrote on Twitter that Leipzig resembled a fortress. There were four-digit numbers of police officers on the ground, as well as checkpoints and helicopters. “The result is above all disproportionate.” Left-wing city councillor Michael Neuhaus also voiced criticism on Twitter. “Yesterday, the police allegedly had no means to guarantee the right to freedom of assembly enshrined in the Basic Law, but were able to enforce such a justified ban on demonstrations with hundreds of police officers and seal off half the city,” he wrote. This was politically motivated.
Source: MDR
We took to the streets for the first time today, 23.10. at 9am. With the aim of surprising the cops, we went through Schönefeld with lots of fireworks and loud slogans.
On the way, the windows of the Vonovia tenants’ office were broken and the Deutsche Bank also got stones and paint. Company cars on the way (e.g. one of the Deutsche Bahn in memory of the Black Triangle) were also damaged.
We don’t let the street be taken from us and we don’t need a State to allow us to stand up for our goals.
We’ll see each other all over the city today. Decentralised or spontaneous at collective militant moments.
