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

Seven of their colleagues were also injured, but only slightly, in the same attack. Some 550 delegates from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) 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 returned their leadership duo. The incident took place near the community hall, the “Grugahalle”, where some 550 delegates from 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, during the same attack. The perpetrators fled.

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

Before the police were injured, however, most of the 50,000 people who protested according to organizers marched peacefully, carrying banners and placards that read: “Resistance !” Or “Together for democracy”.

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

During the congress, Tino Chrupalla, who was re-elected hands down, as well as Alice Weidel, for two more years at the head of the AfD, displayed the party’s ambition to one day come to 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.