(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, 01 AGO - A Berlin protest against
coronavirus restrictions drew thousands, from the hard left and
right to conspiracy theorists on Saturday. Police put turnout at
15,000 -- well below the 500,000 organisers had announced as
they urged a "day of freedom" from months of virus curbs. "We
are the second wave," shouted some as marchers headed for the
Brandenburg Gate while others called for "resistance", dubbing
the pandemic "the biggest conspiracy theory". Few protesters
wore a mask or respected the 1.5-metre (five-foot) social
distancing requirement, an AFP journalist reported, despite
police calling on them via megaphone to do so. Berlin police
revealed on Twitter they had launched a legal action against
organisers over "non-respect of hygiene rules". A handful of
people held a counter demonstration. Dubbing themselves
"grandmothers against the extreme right", they shouted insults
against "Nazi" protesters. The "Day of Freedom" slogan for the
protest echoes the title of a 1935 documentary by Nazi-era film
producer Leni Riefenstahl on a party conference by Hitler's
National Socialist German Workers' Party. (ANSA-AFP).
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