GIESSEN. The recent founding of the AfD youth organizationon Saturday (November 29, 2025) was accompanied by massive, partly violent and terroristic riots by the left-wing extremist and autonomous spectrum.
Systematic Blockades and Attacks: Over 25,000 Counter-Demonstrators – Interior Minister Speaks of Violent Hooligans.
Despite an extensive protest exclusion zone confirmed by court orders, militant groups among the up to 25,000 counter-demonstrators attempted to prevent the event of the democratically approved party with targeted violence and mass civil disobedience. The attacks were primarily directed against police forces who were protecting the constitutional right to freedom of assembly.
Chronicle of Violence and Repression
The waves of attack began in the morning and aimed to block the access roads to the exhibition halls and make the execution of the founding event impossible – a clear subversion of the democratic process:
- Attacks with Life-Threatening Munition: At one barricade, a group of demonstrators used flare ammunition against police forces. This form of attack poses a direct threat to the lives of officers.
- Massive Use of Force: Police confirmed that there were violent clashes, in which 10 to 15 officers were slightly injured. Furthermore, the University Hospital Gießen-Marburg reported that about 10 lightly injured demonstrators were treated, underlining the severity of the clashes.
- Blockades and Breakthrough Attempts: Despite water cannons and a large contingent of up to 6,000 police officers from across Germany, several hundred left-wing extremist activists attempted to break through police barriers to reach the exhibition hall directly.
- Harassment and Intimidation of AfD Members: Reports from Gießen indicate that young AfD members, fearing identification and subsequent attacks, had removed their license plates, an action otherwise known only from militant neo-Nazi marches. In addition, the AfD Member of the Bundestag, Schmidt, was reportedly physically assaulted and beaten, according to party leadership.
Political Reactions: Criticism of Undemocratic Violence
Leading politicians sharply condemned the targeted violence intended to prevent a legal political assembly.
- AfD Chairwoman Alice Weidel called the massive protests undemocratic. She spoke of a readiness for violence that must be feared and called on the demonstrators to de-escalate.
- Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) also criticized the readiness for violence among some demonstrators and emphasized that current law does not permit the suppression of a party event through blockades. He referred to the perpetrators as “hooligans.”
Conclusion: Terror Against the Basic Law
The events in Gießen demonstrate once again that parts of the left-wing extremist scene and Antifa are prepared to use systematic violence and repression under the guise of “anti-fascist protest” to undermine the constitutional right to freedom of assembly and association for political opponents. The use of violence, including life-threatening ammunition, to enforce their own political agenda constitutes an extremist threat to internal security and the democratic process.