Ringing in the New Year With Antifa

The following report is one of those very rare cases where the mainstream media are willing to discuss “left-wing extremism”. Normally all extremism in Europe is assigned to the Right, but the actions of the antifa-types in Leipzig on New Year’s Eve — they beat a policeman almost to death — were so egregious that even the media had to take notice.

Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:01   Just after midnight the New Year’s celebration turned violent.
00:05   In the Connewitz district of Leipzig, rocks, bottles and firecrackers were thrown at police.
00:10   Witnesses recount the moment of escalation:
00:13   I only saw the SEK police run past us. After that
00:17   we didn’t get any closer because the situation really escalated.
00:21   Some of the pedestrians were doing things that probably weren’t OK,
00:25   but I’d have to say overall it really escalated.
00:28   Especially from the police side. —As a result of the clashes,
00:31   a 38-year-old police officer was injured
00:34   so badly that it required surgery. The attack on the officer
00:37   is now being classified as attempted murder. The Connewitz district
00:40   is known as the headquarters for the alternative leftist scene and is notorious
00:43   for recurring clashes with police. Addressing the events of New Year’s
00:46   Eve, the interior minister from Saxony
00:49   Roland Wöller (CDU) spoke of: “deliberate and targeted attacks
00:53   on human life” and announced his intention to
00:56   “prosecute these acts with all the severity of the rule of law.”
01:00   In response the Leftist Party politician Juliana Nagel spoke of “disgusting police violence”
01:04   and accused the police of “mowing down innocent bystanders and purposeful provocation” on Twitter.
01:10   She received stern criticism from other parties for her comments.
01:14   The New Year’s Eve attacks are now being investigated by
01:17   a special commission on left-wing extremism.
01:20   However, the attacks were not only in Leipzig. In Germany’s capital there were some wild scenes.
01:24   Chaotic people felt challenged by the newly established
01:28   no-fireworks zones, like here in Berlin-Schöneberg.
01:34   They are trying to oppress us by banning fireworks, but it won’t work. —So what’s your plan?
01:39   My plan is to !@*%! We’re going to hit them with everything.
01:42   Everything and throw firecrackers at them.
01:45   Nevertheless, the Berlin police department speaks of positive results
01:49   and called the restricted areas successful.
01:53   And to report on the current situation, Marie Przibylla is live for us in Leipzig.
01:58   First and foremost, Marie how is the police officer doing?
02:04   The good news is that he is no longer in critical condition,
02:07   but he is still being treated in the hospital.
02:10   During the night he had to have an emergency operation due to his severe injury.
02:14   Following being attacked here, he was immediately unconscious, and now the question is:
02:18   How could something this bad happen? He was attacked and someone ripped his helmet off his head.
02:25   Following that he was attacked even more, which makes this case quite especially grave, because
02:29   a police officer is being singled out and physically attacked.
02:33   It is also the reason many are troubled by it.
02:37   As we just mentioned in our report, now the accusations are flying.
02:42   Who is accusing whom of what, and why?
02:48   Yes, that was to be expected, since Leipzig has an SPD mayor.
02:52   He is being accused, especially by the CDU
02:56   for example, of not having cracked down enough in the past
02:59   against the left-extremist scene here in Leipzig.
03:02   Word has it that there are at least 250 left-wing extremists living here who are willing to
03:06   resort to violence. There has been a significant escalation
03:10   within the last few months with arson attacks
03:13   and other kinds of attacks at least once a month. Something similar happened just last Sunday.
03:18   So an escalation over the New Year in Connewitz is hardly a surprise.
03:21   That’s the reason the police were here
03:24   with a very strong presence and had a very large contingent. Maneuvers were made by the police
03:30   where people were simply attacked, because they were insulting officers
03:34   or the like, according to some reports.
03:38   So that’s the reason the leftists are accusing the police of provocation.
03:42   Naturally this wasn’t left unchallenged.
03:46   Politicians, especially from the CDU, are promising to prosecute these acts
03:50   with all severity of the rule of law. The SPD also said
03:54   something needed to be done, because allowing a lawless zone to develop Leipzig is unacceptable.
03:58   It is a very, very difficult situation, and the discussion at the moment is:
04:02   How can we move from this to de-escalation?
04:06   The Green Party has suggested having a big town festival in the future
04:09   in order to somehow bring citizens closer together.
04:12   Whether or not something like that could be a solution remains to be seen.
04:16   We are hearing the criticism is getting louder and Marie Przibylla is live for us in Leipzig.
04:25   Yes, that’s correct. Now the discussion is about jurisdiction,
04:29   who did what wrong and who threw the first stone.
04:33   All of this is very intriguing and we would like to continue
04:36   the discussion with the city Mayor Burkhard Jung.
04:39   Mr. Jung, could you explain this conflict situation in Connewitz?
04:43   How could such an escalation take place there
04:46   On New Year’s Eve? —For years, this district has had a small group
04:51   Of left-wing radicals which is very active and dominant.
04:55   Connewitz is actually a very large district, with over 20,000 residents.
04:58   God knows, not all of them are left-wing radicals.
05:01   It is a very colorful, wonderfully alternative district,
05:05   but there is this small group of radicals that has nestled itself there
05:10   which believes it has the right to decide who may do what there.
05:14   Beyond that, in the last few months a situation
05:18   has developed in which networks of, and I’ll say it quite clearly,
05:23   left-wing terrorist cells target infrastructure and property,
05:29   and are trying to influence the situation. Recently they did not hesitate
05:34   to attack a real estate agent in her own apartment.
05:38   We presume this to be the case. It’s a culmination,
05:42   and for years New Year’s has been a mixture of this scene,
05:47   plus, unfortunately, tourists coming to see the melee that could occur.
05:53   For whatever reason, this very charged and
06:01   aggressive atmosphere turned into a situation that reached a horrible climax.
06:07   Ripping a police officer’s helmet off
06:12   and nearly beating him to death is a new and appalling dimension.
06:17   I’m stunned and rendered speechless by such
06:23   an orgy of violence, and think we should do all we can
06:27   to support our police in finding the perpetrators.
06:31   —As you mentioned, it’s a small cell, and the interior ministry estimates
06:35   there are 250 left wing extremists that are
06:39   prepared to resort to violence. So the question is,
06:43   if you know about them and they have committed
06:46   about 350 similar crimes in the past, are you implementing
06:50   the correct strategy to counter this? Because it’s not
06:54   getting any better in this district; it’s getting worse.
06:57   As a counter-argument, for many years there hasn’t been
07:00   enough police presence. For many years the city has also
07:04   been reducing costs by reducing the police workforce,
07:07   and I’m very happy that the new Minister-President plans
07:11   to turn that around. We already have more police on the street,
07:15   and more police officers are being hired. Nothing is going to
07:19   get any better without more police presence in the area.
07:22   They need to intervene, and we cannot allow lawless zones to develop
07:25   in which police no longer enter. We just have to
07:28   get through this and provide definitive successful investigation results.
07:31   This is only possible with police,
07:34   and I’m confident that the city can manage this.
07:39   We will try to ensure cleanliness and order. We plan to renovate
07:44   public spaces. With help from civil society groups and citizens’ groups
07:48   we will establish clear boundaries.
07:51   However, above all we need results in our criminal investigations. Yes, as you just mentioned,
07:55   a police presence, but that topic is a two-edged sword.
07:58   On one side you have the CDU here in Leipzig saying that you, Mr. Jung,
08:01   the SPD, haven’t been doing enough, have ignored the problem or tolerated it.
08:05   On the other side, the interior ministry
08:08   admitted in November that they need to do more investigating in this area. The judicial system
08:12   and police together. At that time, they said, yes,
08:15   crime was on the increase despite having more police presence.
08:19   What is the solution then? Do you have an answer for that? —It is a very difficult
08:22   conflict situation. The best place to start would be to stop spreading the nonsense
08:26   that the city tolerates this. The city isn’t responsible
08:29   for criminal machinations or that they develop. That’s the job of the police
08:33   department and it is within the jurisdiction
08:37   of the police and the state of Saxony. Period.
08:41   The attribution of blame or the cheap election-posturing nonsense —
08:45   I’m tired of hearing that, just to say it clearly. Let’s just have a discussion
08:48   about how we can influence this, how the citizenry
08:51   can influence this, or how we can support the police with this difficult
08:55   task. This delicate balance between intervening,
08:58   showing presence, and de-escalating the situation —
09:01   these tactics are something the police have to grapple with.
09:05   It is not acceptable that the city surrenders out of fear of escalation.
09:09   In that case, the city need to show some teeth
09:12   in order to protect the rule of law. —Burkhard Jung,
09:16   the mayor of Leipzig, thank you very much your assessment
09:20   of the topic. The discussion continues, especially when it come to
09:23   what went wrong, and above all, how to prevent it
09:26   from happening again in the future. At the end of January there is a court hearing concerning
09:29   the prohibition of a certain leftist group. Until then, there could be more uprisings in Leipzig.
09:36   Thank you for informing us, and for this interview.
 

8 thoughts on “Ringing in the New Year With Antifa

  1. “In response the Leftist Party politician Juliana Nagel spoke of “disgusting police violence” – German laws allow extremist parties to be banned. There’s a difference between politians on different ends of the spectrum and politians opposing law enforcement. Perhaps an investigation into her party should be run.

    The general problem with Antifa is that they attack in packs and that helps to indoctrinate even those who might be decent human being otherwise. Similar to a firing squad, if they do cripple or kill someone, they will convince themselves that someone else dealed the finishing blow and so they’re not quilty. I’m sure everybody sees how problematic that behaviour is.

    Another problem is that, generally speaking, police departments across Europe are way too timid. Moving down one or two of those packs would give most antifa members seconds thoughts about getting involved in a beating. At the very least it would slow down their actions significantly, before they can indoctrinate enough members.
    One reason the police is so docile is the rules for using their guns though. Unlike officers in the US they have to write a report whenever they used their gun (literally for every bullet outside the shooting range) and risk being investigated for improper usage. That is, in those countries where the officers are still armed. In other countries they no longer even have a chance of protecting themselves or other citizens, because their government took their guns away.

    In Germany, for example, an officer can fire only if there’s no other way of stopping an attacker or fleeing subject and only if he or she clearly stated they are going to shoot (like telling the attacker or firing in the air first). Even then they aren’t allowed to kill the attacker and are required to just shoot his arm or leg to disarm him. Afterwards they have to report why and how the gun was used. Considering how narrow the line between justified and unjustified self-protection is in European law, you can see why barely any officer would use his gun in a crowded environment or in any environment at all. They would risk loosing their job or even land in jail otherwise. It’s an extremely immoral law of course, playing in the cards of criminals, but it’s like that across Europe (probably aside Russia and Belarus).

    • Actually, police officers in the United States are under very similar rules regards the use of deadly force. Yes, each shot fired must be justified. Yes, the officer may be held criminally liable, up to and including murder if he is determined to have acted in an unjustified way. No, no one here is silly enough to require an officer to try to shoot a suspect in the arm or leg; if he is justified in discharging his weapon at a suspect he is justified in killing the suspect.

      • Really? I didn’t know that, I thought the gun use in America is much more liberal! I guess I got that idea because American officers have been dealing with more dangerous criminals (gangs) for a much longer period than European ones. The more you know…

  2. treat scum with kid gloves and they take the p*as – they wouldn’t treat right wingers so casually.

  3. It’s about time they reported the real news, even if they seem puzzled about “what went wrong”.
    Wonderful production by Miss Piggy and Vlad!

  4. All of the usual excuses, childish accusations, alleged significant escalations reported by a brainwashed cult member of the EU. Poor little ANTIFA victims were simply attacked for insulting officers from their “lawless zone” in Leipzig while the police provoked them because they were enforcing the peace of law and order in their “lawless zone”. The police of course have no jurisdiction in lawless zones you know. Yes. Thems are against the rules ya see.

    Of course the solution given is another “festival” in a lawless zone along with the cult members of ANTIFA in order to bring the citizens closer together. Surely that will work. Oh it will be so much better then the festival at new years too. There will be unity and solidarity of the citizenry then most definitely. What could possibly go wrong then? All so intriguing. Oh yes, yes it is. This will magically move all of this into de-escaltion mode. Oh yes we demand that to be the culmination then. Or maybe, perhaps a prohibition of a certain leftist group. Yes, yes that will most definitely work as well. A bit harder to accomplish in reality without the magic.

    Wasn’t it just a month ago that these same cultural marxists burned a tax office, construction equipment and have attacked several citizens to show far-left extremists can act anywhere in Leipzig as part of their accursed “resistance” stratagem of nihilism against their own civilization?

    Therefore let the only solution being that of going after their enablers and handlers at the commanding heights of the society they inhabit. To cause them to fall away in order for there to be a civil and peaceful society that the citizenry can live in without fear. As if that is what those in charge really did want. Hah-ha.

  5. Antifa are the present ” brown shirts” of Germany if anyone not known what that means look it up ,they are useful idiots to be thrown away when their task is done.

    • Antifa are communist in nature and actions and the brown shirts were formed to fight antifa. The same thing is starting to happen now, freicorps are being formed because of antifa.

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