Far-right protests continue in eastern Germany

Around a thousand far-right demonstrators rallied in the eastern German city of Chemnitz Thursday after days of violent protests.

The protesters shouted slogans against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy for refugees, demanded immediate deportation of illegal migrants and attacked the media, chanting the Nazi-era term “Luegenpresse" (lying press).

They also carried banners bearing the messages “We are the people”, “For security and order” and “The people are rising up”.

Unrest in the city begun Sunday following reports on social media that attributed the killing of a 35-year-old German citizen to two migrants from Syria and Iraq.

Far-right extremists took to the streets, and some of them randomly attacked foreign-looking people, including an Afghan, a Syrian and a Bulgarian man, according to police.

The far-right group Pro Chemnitz, which organized Thursday’s demonstration, has announced that they will continue their protests with another major rally scheduled for Saturday.

Several leftist groups also announced that they would hold a counter protest on the same day in Chemnitz.