A number of videos from the PEGIDA protest that descended into violence on Saturday apparently show ‘journalists’ throwing fireworks, not protesters, according to claims made by PEGIDA activists.
The origins of the fireworks have yet to be conclusively proven, yet their use precipitated the march being halted by German riot police before being violently broken up with officers charging in, water cannon being used, and tear gas being deployed.
Videos shared on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube – watched over a million times in the past couple of days – show an angered man talking with police at the protest, criticising them for allowing a man to pass through the police line because he had a press pass, despite having been seen him throwing fireworks.
Before a police officer demands the video recording is terminated, a man says to the police officers: “Hey, this one! Please hold him to check his identity. he has just thrown a firecracker, the one you just let through, wearing a grey coat… he had just thrown a firecracker and you let him through, what is happening here? What’s going on?”.
Another individual, out of shot, shouts to the officer: “the press is throwing fire crackers around!”.
