So Saturday ended in Frankfurt, and no re-occurrence of rioting or confrontations with the police. However, HR (our public TV network from Hessen) did cover an unusual aspect of the evening.
I essayed a piece or two over last weekend, and the dramatic events around the Opera House district.
Compared to last weekend with around a thousand people in the district at 3 AM when the confrontation started up....this Saturday evening saw around 400 folks (at least what HR says). The disparity on numbers? This is one of the odd parts to last weekend.....some locals say that about a hundred people were the 'bad-boys' and the other 500 in the area were just standing there and observing.
So 150 folks gathered near the Opera House and a demonstration of sorts started up in the evening.
What can be said....a public 'speech' was given by some local guy.....which centered on police 'racial profiling', in that migrants are the target of police attention and in a unfair way.
The self-appointed speaker of the group? Unknown.
The mayor of Frankfurt ended up showing up....making what I'd call a PR entry, and probably there to hype things being calm in the city.
The problem here for the mayor is that the group focused on him....demanding ramifications for police action last week, and for the comments that the chief of police made during the week. The crowd (150-odd people) wanted the chief gone.
The mayor? Well....he went to a scripted answer....there is no room for racism, period. Then the crowd went off to chant 'Nazis raus' (Nazis out).
At that point, the mic went dead and the dramatic theater effect kinda died off.
As things go, the police kinda noted that by 1 AM.....folks were gone and the whole district was quiet (unlike last weekend).
Front-page coverage for the various papers or news sites in Frankfurt, for Monday? More or less.
What you can take out of this are three things:
1. The bulk of people in Frankfurt aren't looking for a dramatic and adventurous evening out. They might be willing to have a drink or two.....listen to some good music, and enjoy a evening out without problems.
2. If you are in the midst of left-of-center or right-of-center political folks.....'Nazis raus' being uttered isn't a public forum that they are happy about.
3. 150 folks demonstrating....aren't much of a crowd to get excited about.
The end? Well....for the rest of the summer period, there's probably going to be more police on the 'beat' for Saturday evening.
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