Germany: Barriers burning in Leipzig. Demonstration in defense of an extremist left

According to the police, up to 3.5 thousand people participated in the demonstration. Persons. The reason for the demonstration was the trial of student Lina E and three men accused by the federal prosecutor of forming a criminal organization and launching violent attacks on right-wing extremists.

The demonstration was organized by a large police force. Officials from Saxony, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and the Federal Police participated in the operation. The newspaper “Welt” wrote that a helicopter was flying over the city, and several water cannons were ready.

At first, the demonstration was largely peaceful. The march passed from the city center to the southern part of Leipzig. But later, a riot broke out. The Leipzig police headquarters were pelted with beer bottles and firecrackers, and stones were thrown at a branch of Deutsche Bank and a branch of Leipziger Volksbank.

A protester threw paving stones at windows on the march road in the southern part of Leipzig.

After the official completion of the demonstration, barricades were erected in the Konwitz area and set on fire. “Masked people dragged wooden pallets, road signs and trash cans onto the street and set them on fire” – writes the magazine. The police used water cannons.