On March 29th, 2014, around 400 people took part in an antifascist demonstration in Dortmund. People took to the streets in remembrance of punk Thomas “Schmuddel” Schulz, who was murdered by the neo-Nazi Sven Kahlin 9 years ago, and in memory of Mehmet Kubaşık, who was one of the victims of a series of murders by the Nationalist Socialist Underground (NSU).
The demonstration started in front of the main railroad station and went to the Dorstfeld district, where many neo-Nazis live, in their so-called “home zone” (for years they’ve been trying to take control over this part of Dortmund). Right before getting into Dorstfeld, many activists inside the demonstration used umbrellas to protect themselves from fascist photographers. Cops used this pretext to stop the march, arguing that people would mask themselves (to cover one’s face is considered a criminal act in Germany). After a few minutes people closed their umbrellas, and cops allowed the demonstration to go on, even though many protesters now used other ways to disguise themselves. In Dorstfeld, a bunch of neo-Nazis held a barbecue while posting pictures in social networks and bragging about themselves. Obviously, cops protected the fascists and blocked every way to them.
It was a loud demonstration and it was nice that so many people took to the streets (demos in previous years were attended with nearly 200 people). But it was also disappointing to see 400 antifascists getting stopped by cops because of umbrellas, and not really doing anything against it…