Left-wing youth Berlin describes the police as a “criminal clan”

The youth organization of the Berlin party Die Linke verbally attacked the police in connection with a demonstration and described them as a “criminal clan”. During the demonstration by students and other participants against conscription on Friday, "a criminal clan equipped with pistols, quartz gloves, batons and pepper spray" harassed the demonstrators, meaning "the Berlin police," according to an Instagram post by Linksjugend Solid Berlin.

The young people would vote for a change in policy, against “continuing the rearmament and police violence with the SPD and the Greens,” it said on the Internet portal X. The Berlin Left wants to talk to the Greens and SPD about forming a government coalition.

Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) replied: "This is another complete derailment and cannot be justified by anything." Anyone who equates and defames police officers with criminal clans “leaves the ground of any democratic discourse”. The police ensured that freedom of assembly applies in Berlin - including for this student strike. “I strongly condemn such attacks on our emergency services.”

After the demonstration with several thousand participants, the police announced that 16 people had been temporarily arrested. According to police, several people set off pyrotechnics on the roof of a library and put up a poster. The Berlin police also said that there were chants with “criminally relevant content”. There were complaints of insults, damage to property and the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.