Berlin police have opened an internal investigation after videos emerged showing an Irish activist at a pro-Palestinian demonstration being punched in the face twice by an officer, drawing protest from Ireland’s foreign office.
Footage posted on social media showed the activist, Kitty O’Brien, being struck by a male police officer and dragged away, their face bloodied, from the rally on Thursday in the Mitte district of the German capital.
The local newspaper Der Tagesspiegel said O’Brien’s arm was also broken at the demonstration but this could not be independently verified.
A longer video published online shows a person resembling O’Brien, who uses non-binary pronouns, shouting insults including “fucking genocide supporter” and “you’re acting like a fucking Nazi” at police. One of the officers then appears to strike them in the face twice. It is unclear from the footage whether the police officer intentionally targeted O’Brien’s face.
A Berlin police spokesperson confirmed that authorities were aware of the incident and said the officer had been identified.
“We as the Berlin police are reviewing whether the officer acted proportionately, and we’re doing it as part of a criminal investigation on suspicion of bodily harm on duty,” the spokesperson said.
O’Brien was treated by the Berlin fire brigade for unspecified injuries, police said. The activist is being investigated for insulting and resisting law enforcement officers.
It was not immediately clear whether O’Brien had filed a complaint against the officer.
Ireland’s department of foreign affairs said senior officials and its ambassador to Germany, Maeve Collins, had conveyed “concern” to German authorities about the incident.
Zoë Lawlor, the chair of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said the video footage obliged the Irish government to take action. “They had to take it seriously. It was two very violent assaults … It’s shocking. The German police are just horrendous when it comes to Palestine activism.”
Lawlor said a fundraiser had been launched for O’Brien. “I understand they are still in hospital and will be out of work for a period of time.”
Activists protested outside the German embassy in Dublin on Saturday. Catherine Stocker, a councillor with the Social Democrats and an aunt of O’Brien, said injuries included a broken arm and nerve damage.
“What you have here is a bunch of mostly young Irish people standing up for international law and standing up for the people of Gaza and Palestine, which has effectively been made illegal to do in Berlin at this stage,” she told RTÉ.
Stocker urged the Irish government to tell the German authorities that the police behaviour was “completely outside the bounds of democratic practice”.
The German foreign ministry declined to comment.
A number of pro-Palestinian groups including Irish Bloc Berlin, which calls itself a “platform for Irish solidarity with Palestine”, had organised the protest against Israel over the killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
According to Berlin police, several hundred officers were dispatched to the commercial zone around Hackescher Markt regarding an unauthorised “gathering in the context of the Middle East conflict”.
About 100 people were marching “back and forth” on Rosenthaler Straße in the Mitte district, with some participants reported as “verbally aggressive” toward police.
“As there was no apparent leader of the gathering, the crowd was ordered to disperse,” police said in a statement, adding that demonstrators had chanted unspecified “criminal, prohibited slogans”. Media reports said “Yallah, yallah intifada” and “From the river to the sea” were heard. Last year a Berlin court convicted an activist for leading a chant using the latter phrase four days after the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“During the operation, there were insults, physical attacks and acts of resistance against police officers,” the police added.
Officers temporarily detained 94 people and police initiated 96 criminal investigations on suspicion of acts including “using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations, attacks on law enforcement officers, insulting behaviour and bodily harm”.
Clashes between police and demonstrators at pro-Palestinian rallies are a common occurrence in Berlin, where local authorities have accused activists of creating an “aggressive atmosphere” and accosting police.
However participants and observers have repeatedly reported what they have called excessive and unprovoked attacks by police against pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the German capital.
