mick silver
12th December 2015, 09:34 AM
Water cannons & tear gas deployed in Leipzig, as neo-Nazi demo sparks massive counter rallies Published time: 12 Dec, 2015 15:12Edited time: 12 Dec, 2015 16:28
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© Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters
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Police have deployed tears gas and water cannon in the German city of Leipzig against crowds of protesters, who were holding a counter rally to a neo-Nazi march. Protesters hurled stones, bottles and fireworks at officers.
About 150 members of different far-right organizations marched through the southern part of Leipzig. They included the neo-Nazi party Die Rechte (the Right), xenophobic organization Offensive für Deutschland (OfD) (Offensive for Germany), and a division of the PEGIDA movement called Thugida.
The right-wing march faced large-scale opposition as about a dozen counter-protests organized by different movements and leftist groups were staged in the city, Der Spiegel reports citing local authorities. Thousands of demonstrators joined the counter protests, according to police sources.
A DPA photographer on the scene said the protesters demolished a bus stop and broke shop windows.
Several people have been arrested, Die Welt newspaper said.
The protesters erected barricades on several streets and set them on fire, Der Spiegel newspaper reported, adding that demonstrators also overturned glass containers.
The neo-Nazi rally took place mostly in the Südvorstadt und Connewitz districts of Leipzig.
Earlier on Saturday, an unknown person or people had started fires in these locations. However, no connection between this incident and the rally has been established yet.
Police said there is a "threatening atmosphere," and a "strong potential for violence" in the city of about 550,000 residents.
Get short URL (http://on.rt.com/6zc3)
https://cdn.rt.com/files/2015.12/original/566c3b12c461889b6f8b459b.jpg
© Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters
769
Police have deployed tears gas and water cannon in the German city of Leipzig against crowds of protesters, who were holding a counter rally to a neo-Nazi march. Protesters hurled stones, bottles and fireworks at officers.
About 150 members of different far-right organizations marched through the southern part of Leipzig. They included the neo-Nazi party Die Rechte (the Right), xenophobic organization Offensive für Deutschland (OfD) (Offensive for Germany), and a division of the PEGIDA movement called Thugida.
The right-wing march faced large-scale opposition as about a dozen counter-protests organized by different movements and leftist groups were staged in the city, Der Spiegel reports citing local authorities. Thousands of demonstrators joined the counter protests, according to police sources.
A DPA photographer on the scene said the protesters demolished a bus stop and broke shop windows.
Several people have been arrested, Die Welt newspaper said.
The protesters erected barricades on several streets and set them on fire, Der Spiegel newspaper reported, adding that demonstrators also overturned glass containers.
The neo-Nazi rally took place mostly in the Südvorstadt und Connewitz districts of Leipzig.
Earlier on Saturday, an unknown person or people had started fires in these locations. However, no connection between this incident and the rally has been established yet.
Police said there is a "threatening atmosphere," and a "strong potential for violence" in the city of about 550,000 residents.