Thousands protest against Höcke AfD event in Jena, four police hurt

Thousands of people protested on Tuesday evening in the German city of Jena against an appearance by Thuringia AfD leader Björn Höcke, and police said four officers were injured as they broke up blockades with pepper spray and batons.

Police put the turnout at around 3,000, while the organising alliance "Rechtsruck stoppen" (Stop the Rightward Shift) said 4,000 people took part, broadcaster MDR reported. There were five counter-events in total, and around 2,500 people joined a march through the city, MDR said. Protesters, called out by that alliance and a second group, "Jena solidarisch," blocked Stadtrodaer Straße with sit-ins that officers later cleared by force.

Police said seven criminal offences and two regulatory offences were recorded during the operation, including a suspected act of sabotage against the power supply at the venue where Höcke was due to speak, in the Lobeda-West district centre. Power to the hall failed shortly before the event began, and officers are now investigating the outage as possible sabotage, MDR reported. Police said they were reviewing photo and video material from the protests and events to establish whether further offences had been committed.

Höcke went ahead with his speech in near darkness and without a microphone after the delay, alongside fellow AfD state lawmakers Elisabeth Mengel-Stähle and Denny Jankowski at what the party billed as a "citizens' dialogue." Police said their operation was intended to protect the safety of event participants and of Höcke himself, as well as to uphold freedom of assembly and expression.

Left party state lawmaker Katharina König-Preuss and Jens Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora memorial foundations, addressed the protest, where crowds sang and chanted anti-fascist slogans, WELT reported.