Boris Palmer considers protest against AfD to be "blackmail" and draws on controversial theory

Merkur Boris Palmer considers protest against AfD to be "blackmail" and draws on controversial theory Niklas Noack • 5 hours • 2 minutes reading time No understanding at all In Tübingen, 300 people demonstrated against the AfD on the sidelines of a panel discussion. Boris Palmer was annoyed by the form of the protest. Tübingen - How to deal with the AfD? Whether politicians from the party, which is widely considered to be right-wing extremist, should be invited to talk shows or election events has been under discussion for some time. Around 300 demonstrators protested against an event in Tübingen in which the AfD took part on Tuesday evening (February 18). Boris Palmer speaks of a breach of the law after protest against the AfD In the eyes of the city's mayor, Boris Palmer (independent), this is absurd. The former Green politician wrote on Facebook: "So that there are no misunderstandings: the blockade of the Tagblatt panel discussion was a clear breach of the law. The right to demonstrate was abused to attempt blackmail and to curtail the civil rights of others." According to the mayor, the conditions for the event were disregarded and, in addition, bus traffic was paralyzed for an hour and a half. All reasons why Palmer did not want to show any understanding for the protest. "Even if you share the already absurd theory," Palmer continued, "that you can simply exclude the second strongest party in the country without acting undemocratically yourself, you cannot ennoble such breaches of the law with leniency." Boris Palmer uses the horseshoe theory Then the long-standing mayor of Tübingen apparently also drew on the controversial horseshoe theory. He wrote: "Imagine if 200 young Nazis had blocked the event and demanded that the representative of the Left Party be disinvited. How great would the outrage be until the Tagesschau? Then the same cannot be allowed to Antifa." To explain: According to the horseshoe theory, the supposedly extremist forces, i.e. the political "fringes" on the left and right, are closer to each other than to the so-called center. It is assumed that both "extremes" are automatically in favor of violence and against the democratic center. An explanation that experts view critically. The horseshoe theory is used primarily to discredit left-wing politics. At the protest on Tuesday (February 18), the demonstrators blocked access to the hall in Tübingen where a panel discussion was taking place. The participants were therefore taken to the event room by the police via side entrances. When the debate between the politicians began, the protest march continued in the direction of Tübingen train station.