GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) – Thousands of demonstrators packed the German Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday, protesting over a wide range of causes before the arrival of the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies for a two-day summit.
Black-clad anarchists chanted slogans against police violence, anti-capitalists held signs denouncing a proposed trans-Atlantic trade deal and peace protesters waved rainbow flags and signs with anti-war slogans.
Protester Monika Lambert said she had come “to exercise my democratic rights to say that everything the G-7 decides is in the interest of the banks and capitalists.”
Lambert, from the Bavarian city of Erlangen, said Germany’s history has shown that it is important to speak out.
“I asked my parents what they did during the Nazi period and they did nothing,” she said. “I don’t want to tell my children and grandchildren the same thing.”