Tens of thousands of far-left protesters flooded the streets and clashed with police in the Germany city of Erfurt on Saturday as they protested the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.Videos showed police beating back agitators with batons and deploying anti-riot ordnance as the demonstrators chanted against the country's conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a massive political rally.Police said over 30,000 people attended the demonstrations, according to the Associated Press (AP), and people could be seen carrying signs reading "Stop AfD Nazis" and "For Diversity, Against Nazis."'YOU'RE DESTROYING YOUR COUNTRIES': IS EUROPE FINALLY HEEDING TRUMP'S WARNING ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?Despite the tense clashes caught on video, police told news outlets the demonstrations have been "mostly peaceful," and claimed they've recorded approximately 100 law violations, mostly due to graffiti.The standoff in the city of Erfurt, Thuringia state, comes as the opposition Alternative for Germany party is soaring in national opinion polls ahead of all other parties.(RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP via Getty Images)The protests coincided with AfD's party conference and leadership elections during which the party, the second largest parliamentary group in Germany's Bundestag parliament, re-elected Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla as the party co-leaders.The mass demonstrations delayed AfD's vote, prompting Chrupalla to criticize the method in which agitators expressed their dissatisfaction.Thousands of demonstrators flooded a German city on July 4, 2026, blocking major roads and disrupting public transport, in a bid to shut down the annual congress of the conservative AfD party.
(RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP via Getty Images)THE OLDEST HATRED IS BACK: HOW IT’S CONSUMING EUROPE AND CROSSING THE ATLANTIC"There are no peaceful seated blockades.There are no democratic roadblocks.
Nor are there any gangs of thugs who deserve the harmless label ‘civil society.’ These trou...