A group of far-right activists apparently failed in an attempt to disrupt the ARD’s “Summer Interview” with Markus Söder on Sunday. “We recorded the program without disruption” a spokesperson for ARD’s Hauptstadtstudio (Berlin studio) told the dts news agency.
The activists arrived just seconds too late; roughly one to two dozen men in black t-shirts, carrying black and yellow flags and a large banner, quickly gathered on the steps of the Reichstag building – normally visible in the background of the ARD’s “Summer Interviews”. The program itself had reportedly just finished filming, with Söder and the ARD team pausing before recording additional content for social media.
Despite the timing, the protesters attempted to make their presence known. Several individuals shouted slogans – including “Re, Re, Remigration” – into megaphones towards the television set, which was positioned in view of the Reichstag. The banner displayed the message: “Strongest force in the country – you cannot drown us out.
The identity of the group behind the disruption was initially unclear. The black and yellow flags waved by the protesters are associated with the “Identitarian Movement” a term used by several activist and ethnocentric groups who advocate for a concept known as “ethnopluralism.
According to a dts news agency reporter, the unsanctioned protest was dispersed by police within minutes, with at least two individuals taken into custody.
This year has already seen several incidents of protests during the ARD “Summer Interview” series. In July, a group calling itself the “Center for Political Beauty” heavily disrupted the interview with AfD leader Alice Weidel. Subsequently, a pro-nuclear movement attempted to use the television production as a platform for their own protests on multiple occasions.