Police Brace for 50,000 Anti-AfD Protesters and Violent Extremists at Party Congress
Police in Erfurt expect up to 50,000 anti-AfD protesters and as many as 2,500 violent left-wing extremists. Activists are openly planning to stop delegates from reaching a legal party congress.
Police restrain an Antifa counterdemonstrator during a protest. Photo: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images
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The German city of Erfurt is preparing for a weekend under exceptional strain. On 4 and 5 July, the AfD plans to hold its federal party congress at Messe Erfurt. Ahead of the event, the far-left scene is mobilizing nationwide. Police are bracing for tens of thousands of counterprotesters, blocked access routes and violent left-wing extremists.
According to internal police documents cited by several German media outlets, security authorities expect at least 35,000 to 50,000 counterprotesters. Officials put the number of left-wing extremists prepared to use violence or actively seeking it at up to 2,500. In the documents, what was once treated as a worst-case scenario is now considered a realistic assessment.
The militant scene has openly set out its plan on relevant platforms. Delegates are to be kept from reaching the exhibition center. Access routes are to be blocked. According to Welt, operational planners are preparing for up to 30 blockade points. The situation could escalate as early as the morning of the first day of the party congress.
Thuringia’s interior minister, Georg Maier, warned counterprotesters against unlawful blockades. Anyone demonstrating against a party he considers hostile to the constitution should not act unconstitutionally himself, the SPD politician said. Police would enforce the right of assembly for everyone.
The Widersetzen alliance provides the central framework for the protests. On its website, the network says the AfD federal party congress must not take place. Activists are being urged to sit down by the thousands in front of entrances and access roads and let no one through to the event.
This is no longer a matter of ordinary protest outside an exhibition hall. The declared aim is to stop a legal party event. The AfD is not banned. Its party congress is protected under German law. Anyone who blocks delegates interferes with the freedom of political parties.
According to the city, 31 assemblies with around 24,000 participants have been registered in Erfurt. State police president Thomas Quittenbaum expects roughly as many additional protesters. Police are not publicly discussing all internal figures, but they are preparing for road blockades, disruption and violence.
The mobilization extends far beyond Thuringia. Left-wing groups, Antifa structures, trade unionists and climate radicals are calling on supporters to travel to Erfurt. Thuringia’s Left Party is also publicly backing the protests. The Widersetzen platform points to buses from numerous cities and local groups across Germany.
For the operational command, the so-called finger tactic is a particular problem. Larger groups split up, move through the city and appear at several points at once. This allows them to block access roads, intersections and bottlenecks. Police then have to keep redeploying forces.
Authorities are preparing large-scale cordons. Residents and visitors should expect some areas to be cut off temporarily. Police will receive support from other German states and the Federal Police. Their task is clear: the party congress is to go ahead, registered assemblies are to be protected and violence is to be prevented.
The internal police documents also identify technical risks. Police are examining flight restrictions and drone exclusion zones because of possible drones around the exhibition center. Disruption to radio communications and event technology is also considered possible. At previous AfD events, jammers are said to have been used.
Travel to the site is another concern. Numerous buses are expected. Rail services could also come under heavy pressure on the morning of 4 July. The authorities are paying particular attention to connections from left-wing strongholds such as Berlin and Leipzig.
The interior minister is trying to contain the political fallout. He has criticized warnings of conditions resembling civil war, even as he supports proceedings to ban the AfD. On the first weekend of July, however, Maier will be responsible for ensuring that police protect the very party whose prohibition he considers politically justified.
On the morning of 4 July, it will become clear whether Erfurt is facing a weekend of demonstrations or an attack on political freedom of assembly. Police are preparing for that possibility.
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