According to reports at least two people were injured during the rally, who they are and how badly they are hurt is unclear as of now. Apparently four participants of the far-right march were hurt after the march, German news @tagesschau reports.
Police admit they didn’t have enough officers on the ground to control the situation, they struggled with separating neo-Nazis from the smaller group of counter-protestors.
Slogans like “For each dead German, a dead foreigner” were reportedly chanted, marchers did the Nazi salute (illegal in Germany). Some journalists say it was not safe enough to continue reporting. Many criticized that police did not prepare better since this was alreaday day 2.
On Sunday neo-Nazis and hooligans had already gathered in the city center and attacked people they assumed to be immigrants or leftists in what some described as “human hunting”.
They claim that they had rallied in response the stabbing of a man killed in Chemnitz this weekend (suspects arrested are an Iraqi and a Syrian citizen, investigation ongoing). They had spread all kind of rumours about the incident.
Far-right AfD had also organized a rally, one of their politicians said people were just “protecting themselves”. Chancellor Merkel’s spox has condemned “vigilante violence” while the prime minister of Saxony is apparently worried about the “image” of his state.
Chemnitz is known for its neo-Nazis entangled with hooligans/mma scene that has been especially active lately—and historically: The neo-Nazis, that later killed ten people as "NSU" terrorists, sought shelter with friends in the city in the late 90ies while on the run.
The state of Saxony is notorious for a strong presence (and sometimes acceptance) of the far-right movement and a high rate of racist violence compared to the rest of Germany. State government and police are often accussed of downplaying the problem.
These events all unfolded around the anniversary of the Rostock-Lichtenhagen pogrom of 1992 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostock-L…) where police did not stop the violent attacks by Nazis and locals against immigrants/refugees.
People fear this might go on in the next days in Chemnitz, since neo-Nazis will feel emboldend and apparently see Sunday and Monday as a success and victory.
Here are some reporters that covered this live (Thank you!): @johannesgrunert @J_MkHk @felixhuesmann @Seb_Baehr @RaphaelThelen @moenchtim @streetcoverage. The hashtag used was #c2708.
