two police officers seriously injured on the sidelines of the AfD congress

Seven of their colleagues were also injured, but slightly, during the same attack. Some 550 delegates from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party, are meeting until Sunday in Essen, in the west of the country, to elect their leaders.

Two police officers were attacked and seriously injured on Saturday, June 29, by demonstrators who came to protest against the congress of the far-right AfD party in Essen, in western Germany, where the delegates renewed their duo of leaders. The incident took place near the community hall, the “Grugahalle”, where some 550 delegates of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) are meeting until Sunday.

“Unknown persons kicked two police officers in the head” and continued to “hit them while they were on the ground”said the police of the North Rhine-Westphalia region. “Seriously injured”both men had to be hospitalized. Seven of their colleagues were also injured, but slightly, in the same attack. The perpetrators fled.

Eleven police officers were attacked in the morning by protesters partly “hooded” during one of the multiple street blockades organized to disrupt the arrival of delegates. Several people were arrested, according to authorities. A thousand police officers have been mobilized to ensure security in Essen, where the authorities had said they feared “potentially violent far-left troublemakers.”

Before the police officers were injured, most of the 50,000 people who demonstrated according to the organizers, however, marched peacefully, carrying banners and signs on which one could read “Resistance !” Or “Together for democracy”.

“Against right-wing extremism and racism, we need strong democratic forces and peaceful protests,” reacted Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on X. But “nothing justifies violence”she judged.

During the congress, Tino Chrupalla, who was re-elected by a landslide, as was Alice Weidel, for two more years at the head of the AfD, displayed the party’s ambition to one day gain power in Germany. Tino Chrupalla regretted a missed opportunity in the European elections, while the AfD lost ground following several controversies surrounding its head of list Maximilian Krah. His remarks according to which an SS was not “automatically a criminal” led to the break with the National Rally and the exclusion of the AfD from the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament.