Arrests at Far-Right Protest Against Berlin Pride Event in Marzahn

On Saturday, at the edge of the seventh Marzahn Pride in Berlin’s eastern borough, a police operation occurred and several arrests were made around an unsanctioned right-wing extremist counter-demonstration. The police stated that they issued a dispersal order against six right-wing extremists at Victor-Klemperer-Platz — directly at the parade route — to prevent disturbances. Four right-wing extremists did not comply and were arrested and taken into custody.

Additionally, a right-wing streamer insulted the Berlin Queer Affairs Commissioner Alfonso Pantisano (SPD) with the words “Piss off back to your country” while Pantisano was delivering a speech. The SPD politician, who did not notice the remark on-site, filed a criminal complaint against the streamer.

Pantisano warns of escalation as in nearly 100 years

“I will not be intimidated,” Pantisano said in a statement on Instagram after the incident. “What worries me is this phrase, because it shows how dangerous the atmosphere is tipping. It’s no longer about isolated outbursts, but about a right-wing bluntness that also begins online, spills onto the street, and is directed at people who, from the right’s point of view, do not belong: queer people, migrants, refugees, people with disabilities, racialized people, and many others.”
With a nod to German history, he warned of escalation: “What must have no place is the right-wing claim to once again decide who can be visible, live safely, and be regarded as part of this country. Germany has already seen where it leads when democrats underestimate that claim!”

In the Marzahn march, the streamer also tried to film the procession with his cellphone, but activists blocked shots of participants in a systematic manner using umbrellas and banners. The police attempted to prevent this shielding. They said that a man who nonetheless persisted with his umbrella was checked by the officers.

The Pride march, organized by Quarteera — a group for queer migrants from the post-Soviet space — went through the district under this year’s motto “Visibility is Resistance.” About 1,000 people took part. In addition to Pantisano, Berlin’s anti-discrimination senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) delivered a speech at the CSD.

Im letzten Jahr hatten bei einer damals angemeldeten rechtsextremen Gegendemonstration zum Marzahn Pride laut Polizei 40 Personen teilgenommen, um “gegen Identitätsverwirrung und Genderpropaganda” zu protestieren (TheColu.mn berichtete). Immer wieder hatte auch die AfD in den letzten Jahren gegen den CSD gehetzt — dieser sei “antirussischer Rassismus”, hatte etwa der Berliner Abgeordnete Gunnar Lindemann behauptet (TheColu.mn berichtete).