Several press outlets report that various European cities saw protests on March 20, against the COVID-19 lockdown measures and vaccinations.
Protests occurred in Kassel, Germany; London, U.K.; Helsinki, Finland; Bucharest, Romania; Vienna, Austria; and a small town near Basel, Switzerland. Other German cities that had planned demos which were either insignificant or cancelled were Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart.
The Kassel, Germany demo was estimated at over 20,000, and led by the Querdenken ("Lateral Thinkers") grouping, a loosely-organized grouping of anti-vaxxers, radical vegetarians and right-wing activists. Few of the protesters in the tightly packed crowds wore masks. Many were chanting, “Wir sind das Volk” ("We are the people"), poached from the 1989 peaceful protests against communist East Germany.
Brief outbreaks of violence were quickly quelled with water cannon and pepper spray.
