German government welcomes probe into virus protest policing

<p>BERLIN &mdash; The German government on Monday welcomed a decision by state authorities to examine the police response to a weekend anti-lockdown protest during which participants openly flouted coronavirus pandemic restrictions.</p>
<p>Scuffles broke out between some of the 20,000 people participating in the protest in the central German city of Kassel on Saturday and counterdemonstrators trying to block their path.</p>
<p>Footage showed police letting protesters march trough the city largely unhindered, with officers at one point forcefully hauling counterprotesters out of their path.</p>
<p>The top security official of Hesse state, Peter Beuth, criticized protesters who had refused to wear masks, saying they put the lives of others at risk.</p>
<p>“The federal government welcomes the willingness of Hesse’s Interior Minister Beuth to, as he put it, thoroughly the review the entire police operation in Kassel," government spokeswoman Martina Fietz said.</p>
<p>Germany has seen a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks.</p>
<p>The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the country has risen over the past two weeks from 9.95 per 100,000 people on March 7 to 15.54 new cases per 100,000 people on March 21.</p>
<hr />
<p>Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at:</p>
<p>
<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine">https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak">https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak</a>
</p>