NPR states that according to organizers, as many as 60,000 people could attend an anti-Islamization rally in the eastern German city of Leipzig today. It could be one of the biggest protests there since pro-democracy marches a quarter-century ago.
NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson states, “Organizers of the anti-Islam protest say they have two goals: One is to show the German government they won’t be silenced, just like the protesters who brought down the East German government 25 years ago.
“They also say they are snubbing Muslim extremists who are accused of threatening one of the Dresden leaders of the anti-Islam movement earlier this week.”
Deutsche Welle writes: “‘There is no concrete [terror] threat, such as the one in Dresden,’ Saxony’s Interior Ministry said. On Monday, PEGIDA’s Dresden march was called off following a death threat against the movement’s leader Lutz Bachmann.
According to NPR, German prosecutors opened an investigation into one of the PEGIDA’s leaders. Bild, a mass-circulation newspaper, printed a photograph of a man it said was Lutz Bachmann, 41, posing as Adolf Hitler,
Counterprotests in Dresden were also cancelled.
Soraya says about 4,000 police officers from around the region have arrived in downtown Leipzig to prevent expected clashes between the demonstrators and their opponents. Nineteen counterdemonstrations are registered with authorities for this evening.
Deutsche Welle states: “‘LEGIDA,’ the Leipzig offshoot of anti-Islamization movement PEGIDA expects some 30,0000 to 40,000 protesters to march through the eastern German city on Wednesday. Organizers of the demonstration, however, have said the goal is ‘at least 60,000.’ Unlike in Saxony’s capital, Dresden, on Monday, no ban on public assembly has been enforced.
In response to the LEGIDA / PEGIDA rally, some 19 counter-demonstrations, such as sit-ins, have been organized, which could bring the numbers of people on the streets up to 100,000.
OK, Fine. 