AfD meeting in Essen sparks violent protests

Police and protesters clashed outside the annual conference of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

According to local media reports, tens of thousands of people opposed to the Alternative for Germany party gathered in the city of Essen, and police were deployed from across the country to prevent unrest.

The local police said that two police officers were “kicked in the head” during the violent incident and were seriously injured and were sent to the hospital.The event began in the early hours of Saturday morning before the official demonstrations began.

A few weeks ago, the AfD conference shocked German politics Second place in European electionswinning 16% of the vote, defeating the ruling center-left party.

Riots broke out at dawn on Saturday when a group of protesters tried to make their way to the Grugahalle concert hall, where the meeting was scheduled to take place.

Riot police ushered delegates into the venue after some protesters tried to prevent the meeting from starting by blocking roads.

Essen police said two riot police officers were seriously injured.

“The officers were kicked while they were still lying on the ground,” police said.

“[They] Had to be taken to hospital. [We] Video records are currently being evaluated to identify the perpetrators.

Seven other officers suffered minor injuries, police said.

Police said they used batons and tear gas to control the crowd and had arrested “several people” by midday.

As many as 100,000 people are expected to take part in demonstrations over the weekend, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The two-day AfD event is expected to be attended by around 600 delegates and is scheduled to start on Saturday morning.

“We are here and we are here to stay,” party co-chair Alice Wedel told delegates at the start of the meeting. She was re-elected as co-leader along with Tino Chrupalla.

Counter-demonstrators marched through Essen on Friday, the eve of the meeting, and more demonstrations are expected on Sunday.

Essen authorities had tried to prevent the Alternative for Germany from holding a conference in the city, but a court ruled the party should be allowed to do so.

The Alternative for Germany, which mainly draws support from eastern Germany, finished fourth in the EU parliamentary elections in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Essen is located.

However, despite being hit by scandal, the campaign has exceeded national expectations, including among its leading candidates Downplaying Nazi crimes During World War II.

Alternative for Germany candidates won 15 of the 96 seats in Germany’s parliament, second only to the country’s largest opposition party, the centre-right CDU/CSU. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats came in third.