Several journalists were attacked by left-wing extremists at the federal party congress of Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Erfurt. Among them were reporters from the right-wing platform Apollo News and the conservative weekly Junge Freiheit. Police are investigating the assaults.
Pictures and videos show demonstrators harassing the reporters, hitting them and, in one case, kicking a journalist as he lay on the ground. A mobile phone belonging to one reporter was also briefly stolen by Antifa activists. Police said several suspects had already been identified in connection with the robbery.
The case touches a sensitive nerve. Those attacked were not government reporters or major broadcasting crews, but journalists from independent and right-leaning conservative media. Outrage from the established press remained muted.
No Protection for the “Wrong” Reporters
The left-wing alliance Widersetzen, which had hoped to mobilize 50,000 protesters, some of them violent extremists, refused to distance itself clearly from the attacks after the party congress. Asked whether it condemned the assaults, spokesman Noa Sander said: “We came to Erfurt to block fascists. Fascists with a press pass are still fascists.”
There was little initial pressure from the major journalists’ associations either. The German Journalists’ Association called for the attacks to be investigated. A broader campaign did not follow.
ARD journalist Anja Kohl drew further criticism after comments on Bavarian broadcaster BR. She spoke about the attacks, but chose to criticize the AfD. The party, she said, had failed to distance itself from them. That created the impression that political responsibility lay with the party whose congress was meant to be blockaded. AfD leader Alice Weidel had, of course, already strongly condemned the attacks over the weekend.
Several politicians outside the AfD were more explicit. CDU interior affairs politician Alexander Throm said that anyone who used violence against journalists was attacking democracy. Green and SPD politicians also condemned the attacks.
The Blockade Failed Early
Widersetzen had set out to stop the party congress. In Riesa in January 2025, blockades had already delayed the start of the AfD gathering by more than two hours. At the time, many delegates had been unable to get through. Police and the party knew what could happen in Erfurt and were prepared this year.
AfD delegates arrived during the night and early morning. According to the party, 540 of the roughly 600 delegates were already inside the exhibition hall by around 7:30 a.m. The congress began on time at 10 a.m.
Tino Chrupalla seized the moment to mock the protesters. “The early bird catches the worm”, the AfD co-leader said. The “Antifa rioters”, he added, had slept through their own attempt at disruption. Widersetzen also had to acknowledge the result. The alliance had come to stop the event, spokesman Suraj Mailitafi said. “We did not succeed.”
Police gave a positive assessment of the day. According to their figures, around 31,000 people took part in protests and blockades. Organizers put the number at about 50,000. Officers recorded 65 offences and 13 administrative violations, including property damage, bodily harm and breaches of assembly law.