BerlinOn Saturday, journalists were threatened during a demonstration by controversial chef Attila Hildmann in front of the exhibition center in Berlin. Video recordings show that there was a verbal argument between Hildmann and his fellow demonstrators on the one hand and a press team, including the journalist Tobias Huch.
The incident was shown in a video that the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism posted on Twitter.
“You are fascists and we will find your names and then we will take a look”, Hildmann threatened the journalist. A demonstration participant beat a press representative’s camera. According to the Jewish Forum, “the marginalized people were aggressively” approached, threatened and intimidated by Hildmann’s followers. It can also be seen in the video that some demonstrators came closer to the journalists, so that they moved backwards and asked several times to keep their distance.
Commentators criticized under the post that – as can be seen in the video – only two police officers were initially present. They only intervened after a journalist asked several times to involve more officials.
That evening, journalist Tobias Huch filed a criminal complaint against Hildmann for coercion and threats, as he announced on Twitter.
The police commented on the incident on Twitter on Sunday afternoon: “We have a duty to protect congregations regardless of their topic and the freedom of the press,” she wrote. “Provocative or aggressive behavior from meetings” is always judged criminally. “We let the case flow into the preparation of future missions.”
