Thousands March on Anti-Mass Migration PEGIDA’s Second Anniversary

PEGIDA
Getty

BERLIN (AP) — Several thousand people have turned out for a demonstration in the eastern German city of Dresden marking the second anniversary of the anti-Islam and anti-immigration group PEGIDA.

Police brought in reinforcements from other German states to prevent trouble at the PEGIDA event Sunday and at smaller counter-protests. They reported no significant incidents, news agency dpa reported.

PEGIDA WIDE GETTY

Speakers assailed the approach of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to the migrant crisis, to chants of “Merkel must go.”

PEGIDA, a German-language acronym for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, has staged weekly protests in Dresden since 2014. Attendance peaked at around 25,000 early last year. Durchgezaehlt, a local group that estimates turnout, put Sunday’s attendance at between 6,500 and 8,500.

PEGIDA spawned similar though less successful groups elsewhere in Germany.

PEGIDA 1

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.