Rheinmetall Disarm: 2,000 war opponents defy police violence and cauldrons

On Saturday, around 2,000 people demonstrated against rearmament and warmongering in Cologne as part of the Rheinmetall Disarm Camp.

In addition to police violence, the demonstration was primarily characterized by solidarity and a combative mood.

It was the culmination of a week of anti-militarist actions.

The Rheinmetall Disarm Camp started in Cologne almost a week ago.

In this context, war opponents from all over Germany gather every year to fight against the arms industry and the war-minded German state.

As this year, the camp traditionally ends with a large anti-militarist demonstration.

On Saturday, around 2,000 people gathered on Cologne Cathedral Square, from where the demonstration was supposed to start.

There was a combative mood right from the start and the demo participants spread anti-militarist content.

In the form of speeches, loud slogans, as well as numerous signs and banners, slogans such as “War against war”, “Youth against conscription – down with imperialism”, “Fight the warmongers” and of course “Disarm Rheinmetall!” perceive.

In the opening speech of the alliance on Cologne Cathedral Square, Rheinmetall Disarmen made it clear once again why the demonstrators had gathered in too large numbers: “Those who build bombs and tanks are responsible for destruction and death all over the world.

They are the corporations that are winning right now while everyone else is losing.” There was also increasing emphasis on the connection between rearmament and militarization and the dismantling of the welfare state.

For example, through the Not on Our Backs alliance, as well as various signs, slogans and banners.

Many also showed a revolutionary perspective and the need to fight against the capitalist system.

This was summed up, among other things, by a banner with the inscription “Revolutions end wars”.

Rheinmetall Disarmen goes into the next round Police are aiming for escalation from the start However, the demonstration was also characterized by violence and attempts at escalation by the police throughout the day.

This began even before the kick-off rally began on the Cologne train station forecourt, when several groups decided to hold spontaneous demonstrations at the starting location.

One of these demonstrations was stopped by the police, surrounded and all participants searched.

According to the police, the reason for these measures was the carrying of “masking items”.

This development then continued with the start of the actual demonstration.

From the beginning, helmeted police officers walked closely alongside the demonstrators and the presence of water cannons and clearing tanks created an atmosphere of intimidation.

There were repeated provocations and attacks by the police.

Police officers pushed demonstrators off the sidewalk, tried to block them from parts of the street, herded demonstrators together and prevented others from leaving the demonstration.

To do this, the police officers resorted to pushing, but also repeatedly punching and kicking.

Due to the constant attacks by the police, the demonstration had to stop on Magnusstrasse around 3:30 p.m.

There were further attacks there and the police continued to restrict the demonstration.

Finally, the officers tried to randomly separate different demonstration blocks from each other and surrounded a large part of the demonstration.

A few people from the demonstration were pulled into the adjacent Pullmann Hotel in order to carry out identification measures.

House searches in Düsseldorf: Attempts at intimidation in front of the Rheinmetall disarming camp. In a press release, the police cited the burning of pyrotechnics and the throwing of paint bags at bank buildings, which also hit police officers.

The police also stated that steel balls were “targeted” at police officers.

However, the police press spokesman was no longer able to verbally confirm this information to a correspondent.

Over 200 injured by police violence For this, but also in general, the police once again used violence against the activists.

Demonstrators were hit specifically on the head and jaw; there were dozens of lacerations and other injuries, including some seriously injured.

Nevertheless, the police did not allow paramedics access to the boiler and those held there did not receive medical treatment for a long time.

Many people were only allowed to do this - if at all - after they had to undergo identification measures.

When paramedics were finally allowed to treat demonstrators, several had to be removed from the cauldron because they could no longer walk themselves.

Police officers also did not let demonstrators go to the bathroom alone, but always left a gap open.

At least six demonstrators were also transported to the prison collection center in Cologne-Kalk.

In total, after the end of the demonstration, paramedics said there were over 200 injuries. 22 of them had to be referred for further medical or emergency medical treatment.

At least one protester was unresponsive in the emergency room for a long time.

According to statements from the paramedics, the police sometimes hindered medical care.

In addition to the restrictions on paramedics, press coverage was also affected.

Barriers were set up in various places around the cauldron, making it impossible to film or photograph some parts of the cauldron.

Police officers kept one of our correspondents away from the demonstration and photographed him with a cell phone.

He was later randomly accused of insulting police officers and a complaint was filed against him.

Kessel illegal and indiscriminate from the start. The hours that followed were also marked by a great deal of uncertainty.

The encircled demonstrators were held for several hours since 3:30 p.m. for no clear reason.

At around 6 p.m. the police suddenly decided to divide the cauldron and ask some of the demonstration to leave.

Why is unclear.

The press and observers expressed the suspicion that the number of people would be too large for identification purposes and that they therefore wanted to create a smaller number. However, 250-300 people were still detained.

This situation continued until late in the evening.

It was also significant that no involuntary identification treatment took place during the entire period of the cauldron - according to information from parliamentary observers, because it was unclear for a long time whether this would be legal or not.

According to lawyers who questioned the legality of the kettle, the police leadership asked the district court about the legality of the measure.

However, the latter rejected responsibility and returned the decision to the police leadership.

At 9:43 p.m., the operational management finally decided to dismantle the cauldron and release the demonstrators from the pen at a passage point.

At this point, the demonstrators were held in the police cauldron for more than six hours.

The last person left the cauldron at 10:06 p.m.

However, other demonstrators were pulled out by the police as they left the cauldron and even in the surrounding streets and were then still processed for identification purposes. “War on War” – Successful week of action at the Rheinmetall Disarm Camp in Cologne The police actions showed two things very clearly: On the one hand, the cauldron was illegal from the start, and there was no court order for a compulsory presentation in order to carry out identification processing.

On the other hand, the second dividing of the cauldron in particular showed once again that the selection of the cauldroned demonstrators was virtually random.

The police seemed to want to punish someone for the combative and self-determined expression of the demonstration.

Demonstrators refuse to be defeated. Above all, it was clear in and around the cauldron that the protesters did not let the police's reprisals dampen their fighting spirit.

In the cauldron, slogans were shouted loudly until late in the evening, and there was also singing and jumping.

A demonstrator took the opportunity to loudly read revolutionary texts from a Lenin book he had brought with him to his comrades and also to the police officers present.

The police had to change several times, but sometimes reacted positively to the literature.

The solidarity of the antimilitarists also became particularly clear.

The demonstrators who were initially separated from the cauldron and those who were later released formed spontaneous solidarity rallies and received the released people in the evening.

They started singing and jumping and repeatedly called out to those surrounded: “You are not alone!” Meanwhile, activists held several militant spontaneous demonstrations in downtown Cologne to draw attention to the repression.

The solidarity also reached far beyond the borders of Cologne, with a spontaneous solidarity rally being called in Berlin.

After the last demonstrators were released from the cauldron, the protesters finally decided to hold another spontaneous demonstration around 10:30 p.m.

On the previously planned route, accompanied by loud slogans, they ran back to the Rheinmetall Disarm Camp, where they were greeted with a similarly combative welcome.

Various protest actions had already taken place in the previous days. The demonstration marked the end of a week of anti-militarist protests.

In the previous days, opponents of the war had already staged various, sometimes militant, actions against rearmament and warmongering.

This started on Tuesday with a demonstration on Anti-War Day from the Rheinmetall Disarm Camp.

Despite increased attempts by the police to restrict the demonstration, the demonstrators took to the streets on their own initiative.

In the days that followed, there were various blockades, for example at various Rheinmetall locations, local defense companies and suppliers, as well as at many other companies that fuel the war industry.

This culminated on Thursday in the blockade of the Liège barracks in Cologne.

The Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr is located there - a central body in the recruitment of soldiers and other Bundeswehr personnel and thus the implementation of compulsory military service.

Over 200 activists lined up at the entrance gate and denied access to the barracks.

Here too, the police responded with massive violence.

Rheinmetall Disarm: Activists block Bundeswehr barracks In addition, the war opponents have repeatedly managed to connect different struggles and show the connections between rearmament and, for example, social cuts, patriarchy or national oppression.

For example, at various rallies and flyer campaigns where attention was drawn to the social cuts and the hundreds of billions of euros for militarization were countered.

Or, for example, at a demonstration against the budget recently presented by the Cologne city council on Thursday.

There, women in particular demonstrated against the planned cuts in protection from violence for women and specifically placed this demonstration in the context of rearmament and the Rheinmetall Disarm Action Week.

On Friday there was another demonstration by the Kurdish freedom movement as part of the “Long March for Freedom and Democracy”.

Around 400 people drew attention, among other things, to the German arms deliveries to Turkey and how these are being used in the war against the Kurdish population.

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