Far-left violence erupted in the town of Giessen on Saturday morning as the sovereigntist Alternative for Germany (AfD) launched its new youth branch, sparking Antifa attacks on politicians and police.
According to organisers, around 20,000 leftists took to the streets of Giessen to protest the launch of a new AfD youth branch, following the dissolution earlier this year of its previous organisation, the Junge Alternative (JA), which was branded an “extremist organisation” by the BfV domestic political spy agency in 2023.
The demonstration, which Antifa-linked groups organised in conjunction with radical feminists and trade unionists, saw bottles, rocks, and flares used to attack police officers, who in turn were forced to deploy water cannons, batons, and pepper spray to push back the far-left radicals.
In addition to attacks on police, AfD Member of Parliament Julian Schmidt said that he was assaulted and likely suffered a broken nose as he attempted to enter the meeting.
“It was around 8 am,” he told Bild. “We parked our car in an industrial park, walked towards the hall, and suddenly a group of men stood in front of us. We tried to get past them, and then they started punching me. And I tried to defend myself.”
Schmidt said that he was not sure if the assailants knew that he was an MP, explaining: “They didn’t ask my name, they just started hitting me. I then went to a paramedic. He suspects my nose is broken.”
Addressing the opening meeting of the new youth group, AfD leader Alice Weidel called on Antifa and other radicals to “disarm”, saying: “The place for conflict is not out on the streets with violence.”
Weidel also chastised the German media for inciting violence against her party, remarking: “If you’re in favour of open borders, then you’re on the right side with the media. But if you’re in favour of controlled entry, you get framed.”
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt also condemned the leftist violence, with Die Welt quoting him as saying: “I have the utmost respect for the police officers when I see, yet again, masked individuals, rioters, people with flares and torches, approaching the police with a willingness to use violence… There is no fundamental right that justifies using violence against our security forces.”
Prior to the protests, the Antifa-linked website Indymedia published several calls by far-left radicals to demonstrate against the AfD youth group. In one such publication, an anonymous Antifa militant said that merely protesting was not enough, urging followers to take “any means necessary” to prevent the meeting from taking place.
“Our aim is not only to send a message against the rise of the right, but to concretely sabotage and prevent the work of neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists,” the post said.
“We are certain that a mass action will only delay the founding of the organisation at most, not prevent it. With our actions, beyond simply appealing to the state, we want to ignite a fire in our hearts that will inspire others to feel and act autonomously!
“Therefore: whether we sabotage the event in the exhibition hall, shut down the highways, set the city of Giessen on fire, or carry out solidarity actions in other cities – we will resist. Whenever and however we want!”
The latest violence from the German far-left comes after the Trump administration in the United States designated four European Antifa cells as foreign terrorist organisations, including Germany’s infamous “hammer gang”.
