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A video showing officers detaining a small boy during a protest in Berlin has sparked outrage online
A video showing German police chasing and detaining a child at a pro-Palestine protest in Berlin has gone viral online, with netizens on multiple platforms expressing outrage over law enforcement targeting a minor.
The clip posted online on Sunday shows a boy who looks to be around ten years old and is carrying a Palestinian flag, running from a group of around half a dozen armed officers. They eventually catch him and lead him off to a police van. The child is seen screaming and appears terrified the entire time.
In the video, onlookers are heard shouting “shame on you” and calling for the boy’s release in both German and Arabic. Many people present at what appeared to be a peaceful rally are seen filming the incident.
While the footage does not show officers grabbing the boy or harming him, the situation drew a barrage of criticism online. Users on X, Instagram, and Facebook slammed the officers for frightening a child. One user asked whether police have nothing better to do than chasing a child “for carrying a flag.” Another wrote: “thanks to Palestine, now we know that Western Values about humanity and freedom are false.”
If this were happening in Russia or China, it would have made news.
pic.twitter.com/07flhyjNw8— Esheru (@EsheruKwaku) September 21, 2024
Many compared the actions of the officers with WWII-era Nazis, and accused Germany of being “complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.”
While some argued that the boy may have instigated the chase by provoking the police, most agreed that the officers went too far.
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“Looks like Germany is showing its old stripes again. We’ve seen this movie twice you know, I am not looking forward to the trilogy. Thank you, Palestine, for showing the people of the world what free speech and democracy look like,” another user wrote.
It is unclear what led to the incident and whether police had any reason to detain the child. The German media has so far been quiet on the situation.