A German pro-life rally in the shadow of the Kirk murder

The pro-life rally. Photo: Jörg Luyken

Dear Reader,

In Cologne on Saturday, an anti-abortion rally could only take place under massive police protection. Hundreds of riot police filled the streets to ensure that a counter-protest — officially described as “pro-choice” but in reality dominated by Antifa and other revolutionary groups — couldn’t get near the marchers.

It was a stark reminder that certain constitutionally protected views can only be expressed in Germany behind a barrier of police officers.

Critics of Islam must be guarded against Islamist threats; gay rights activists increasingly face intimidation from far-right “counter-demonstrators.” And Christians who defend what they see as the sanctity of life find themselves harassed by the hard left, which often behaves as if it is exempt from the rules of civilised debate.

At its starting point in the Neumarkt, a central square in Cologne, March for Life participants were funnelled into a police enclosure to protect them from hecklers outside. Officers in riot gear lined the barriers to prevent incursions. Even so, counter-protesters tried to drown them out with whistles and pro-choice chants. At one point, a left-wing protester who had infiltrated the rally ignited a flare and dropped it among the crowd.

Fifty metres away, a separate counter-demonstration had been registered with city authorities. Among its participants were feminist campaigners, Antifa, socialist revolutionaries, and pro-Palestine groups.

Two years ago, when Cologne hosted its first March for Life, Mayor Henriette Reker openly encouraged citizens to protest against it. With police understaffed and unprepared, counter-protesters were able to block the streets and prevented the pro-life rally from leaving the square. Participants described to me how Antifa activists trashed their information stands.

Police protect the protesters.

Kirk murder as a rallying point?

I came to this year’s rally curious about whether, this time around, the righteous anger would be on the conservative side. I had a hunch that the murder of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk — and the German media’s response to it — might find expression here.

Kirk, a Christian known for debating liberal students on issues such as abortion at U.S. campuses, had been little known in Germany. Yet his killing suddenly pushed even the Ukraine war off the news agenda.

When ZDF anchor Dunja Hayali described Kirk’s views as “disgusting, racist and sexist,” she was inundated with death threats from right-wing trolls, forcing her to take a break from social media. Another broadcaster even falsely claimed that Kirk had advocated stoning homosexuals to death. Such reporting became a lightning rod for conservative fury about perceived left-wing bias in Germany’s publicly funded media system.

With the March for Life taking place so soon after Kirk’s murder, it seemed an apt venue for disgruntled conservatives to air their grievances.