Following demonstrations held near the ARD “Summer Interview” with AfD leader Alice Weidel in Berlin, police have initiated investigations against those responsible for organizing and facilitating the protests.
According to a police statement released on Monday, the assembly had not been formally registered in advance, as required by Berlin’s Assembly Freedom Act. A 64-year-old woman identified herself to officers at the scene as the organizer and leader of a spontaneous rally themed “No Stage for the AfD”. Police subsequently recognized the event as an assembly and documented its activities.
Simultaneously, officers discovered a sealed tour bus displaying the inscription “Adenauer SRP+”. A continuous musical broadcast, explicitly critical of the AfD and intended to disrupt the interview, was emanating from the bus through a permanently installed loudspeaker system.
Police report that a contact person was listed inside the bus. The contact person, a 39-year-old man, was contacted by telephone and arrived at the vehicle at 3:20 PM. He stated he was not the driver and could not operate the bus, adding that his involvement was intended as an “independent spontaneous artistic performance in public space” rather than participation in the rally. Following police instruction, the man ceased the sound emissions at 3:30 PM, as they were deemed to be impacting traffic and public order.
Approximately 40 individuals were estimated to have participated in the demonstration.
Both the 64-year-old rally organizer and the 39-year-old responsible for the speaker bus now face misdemeanor proceedings for suspected violations of the Berlin Assembly Freedom Act. Investigations are ongoing.
