Tens of Thousands Join Monday Marches Against Lockdown in Germany

Tens of thousands once again took to the streets of Germany on Monday to protest the nation’s lockdown restrictions.

Monday once again saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets in Germany in order to protest against the nation’s lockdown measures.

People across the Federal Republic gathered for rallies and walks despite a number of local authorities issuing restrictions and even threats against such gatherings.

According to a report by Bild, around 25,000 people attended demonstrations in Thuringia, 9,000 Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with thousands more attending events in other parts of the country.

One focal point for those gathered was proposed mandatory vaccination rules being discussed for deployment in the Federal Republic.

The proposed mandates have received the support of a number of politicians across the country, including the nation’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Germany’s parliament is currently considering two possible mandates, one which would force the jab for all over 50s, and another, even stricter measure which would see all over-18s mandated into getting vaccinated against the Chinese Coronavirus.

Bild also notes the police as saying that most demonstrations were peaceful, though clashes did erupt at some events.

One such violent incident, which occurred in Jena, involved a counter-demonstration injuring a critic of the lockdown.

Counter-demos occurred at a number of protests against the lockdown, with Die Zeit reporting that the Jena counter-demo was the largest in Thuringia at about 200 people.

Dozens of Rallies Across Germany as Anti-Lockdown Protests Continue https://t.co/S3znfY7g3j

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A lockdown protest in Ostfildern, which is situated in Baden-Württemberg, is also said to have remained peaceful.

This is despite tensions running high in the city — which has banned all forms of demos from taking place — over the alleged actions of the town’s mayor.

Christof Bolay, of the ruling SPD party, was forced to deny allegations that he had threatened anti-lockdown protesters with the use of weapons, including guns, over a document he shared online.

According to a report by Bild, the shared document in questions said that to “ensure that the ban on assembly is observed”, “physical violence” and the “use of weapons” by police was permitted, sparking accusations that the mayor was allowing officers to open fire on demonstrators.

However, the mayor has since claimed that he was being deliberately misinterpreted, that the wording of the document was in line with the law, and that the document did not mandate the use of firearms.

Ostfildern and the police have since issued a joint statement emphasising that protesters in the city do not have to fear being shot at.

“For each operation, the police take the necessary measures according to the specific legal basis applicable to the specific individual case, paying particular attention to proportionality,” the statement read.

“The use of firearms to enforce a ban on assembly is excluded,” it concluded.

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