Germans Take to the Streets Against Health Measures
An estimated 17,000 people took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday, August 1st, 2020 to protest against Germany’s social distancing, health and coronavirus measures, claiming violation of human rights and freedom.
This past weekend, as the Muslim world celebrated Eid ul Adha, the Berliners decided that they had had enough of the restrictions and the health-based security measures of their country. Everyone including libertarians, anti-vaxxers, constitutional loyalists, and even a small number of the far-right marchers and imperialists joined the protest. Their chants and protests include singing ‘We are free people!’ to the ‘We Will Rock You’ tune by Queen, alongside chants of ‘We are making a noise because you are stealing our freedom!’ and ‘Do think! Don’t wear a mask!’
These protests are being led by Michael Ballweg who has been organizing other similar marches in Stuttgart and is running for the office of mayor of that city. He is an entrepreneur who is an outsider to politics.
Social Democrat co-leader Saskia Esken called the mask-less protestors ‘covidiots’ while tweeting, ‘They not only endanger our health, they endanger our successes against the pandemic.’
While Germany had been gaining success originally against the virus, their recent protests and maskless interactions have caused a spike in numbers with 200,000 confirmed cases and over 9,000 deaths.
Credits: Fabrizio Bensch & Christian Mang/REUTERS
