Police in action at mega-demo in Vienna: knives and pyrotechnics secured!

Police in action at mega-demo in Vienna: knives and pyrotechnics secured!

On Saturday, November 30, 2024, several hundred people gathered at Heldenplatz in Vienna to protest against the possibility of a new government coalition made up of ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos. This demonstration was organized by the “Fairthink” group, which had previously been banned from holding a similar meeting on November 9th. The organizers had initially expected up to 1.4 million participants, but the turnout was actually much lower, which was particularly noticeable when the police banned the demo in advance in order to protect the flow of traffic and the shops in the city center kosmo.at reported.

The checks at Heldenplatz included the seizure of several knives and a blank gun that were found during the identity checks. In addition to these security-related finds, there was also a counter-rally at Schwarzenbergplatz during which pyrotechnic items were confiscated. Although there was a large police presence on site, there were spontaneous gatherings around 3 p.m. that the officers had to break up. Despite a ban on marching in the Vienna Ring, some participants continued to march even after the official rally ended and formed further groups, which led to blockades that also had to be broken up by the police meinkreis.at reported.

Police deployment and traffic restrictions

Before the start of the event, the police had made water cannons available and announced that they would be present with sufficient forces. While the situation initially went without any particular incident, this quickly changed when the new protest marches moved to the Ringstrasse, which led to traffic delays. An official spokesman emphasized that maintaining public order was the top priority. The political situation, in particular the criticism of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, who had not commissioned the FPÖ to carry out government negotiations, was a central point of the protests, which brought the government and in particular the canceled ring hike into sharp focus.