Backlash mounts against Merkel, ‘Traitor to the People’ (PHOTOS)
Beatrix von Storch, member of the European Parliament of the Alternative fuer Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) political party, holds a red card as a symbol for their protest, at a rally in the city center on November 6, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.
As Germany faces its influx of refugees — a group that is expected to number one million this year — its chancellor finds herself combating a mounting backlash.
This weekend, that backlash took to the streets. Police said around 5,000 people turned out for an anti-migrant protest, organized by the eurosceptic, populist-nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party under the banner "Asylum Has Its Limits — Red Card for Merkel."
"We are demonstrating against the asylum chaos caused by Angela Merkel," AfD member and European Parliament deputy Beatrix von Storch said at the rally.
Participants at the demo waved German flags and chanted "Merkel must go" and "Traitor to the people."
The chancellor and her open door policy are not without proponents, however. Five counter-protests in support of migrants were attended by a total of around 800 people. Organizers had expected a turnout of several thousand.
More than 1,100 police were deployed in the capital to prevent trouble between the rival demonstrators.
They were not entirely successful. Police clashed with left-wing activists. More than 40 people were arrested and one officer was lightly wounded, police said.
The scuffles erupted after police broke up a sit-in by counter-demonstrators, some of whom tried to break through the barriers separating them from the anti-migrant march. Officers also intervened to stop angry exchanges between rival demonstrators.
Brace yourself, chancellor. The fury mounts.
(Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.)