GIESSEN, Germany: A confident far-right Alternative for Germany set up its new youth organization on Saturday even as thousands of protesters converged on the western city of Giessen, where the party held its meeting, some of them clashing with police.
A convention of the anti-immigration party, known by its German acronym AfD, started more than two hours late after groups of protesters blocked or tried to block roads in and around the city of around 93,000, delaying many delegates’ arrival.
Officers used pepper spray after stones were thrown at them at one location, police said. They also used water cannons to clear a blockade by about 2,000 protesters after they ignored calls to leave. They did so again Saturday afternoon as a group tried to break through barriers toward the city’s convention center.
Police said up to 5,000 officers were deployed. They put the total number of demonstrators at more than 25,000 and said that a large part of the various protests went peacefully. They said they knew of 10 slightly injured officers.
AfD’s leaders assailed the protests as the meeting opened. “What is being done out there — dear left-wingers, dear extremists, you need to look at yourselves — is something that is deeply undemocratic,” party co-leader Alice Weidel said.
