"We knew that there would be violence; it was known in advance in the [activist] scene. Therefore, organizers have no right to pretend that they are innocent," Maiziere noted. "It was truly awful. Police officers have been seriously injured," the minister added.
The minister also voiced his irritation over social media comparisons of coverage of Wednesday's events and those of Maidan in Ukraine in 2014, which led to similar violence and the overthrow of the government of Viktor Yanukovich. "What angers me especially is the attempt to justify the use of violence, to make any comparisons to Maidan. There are no excuses for such forms of violence," Maiziere noted.
German commentators have pointed to what they say are double standards in media reporting on Ukraine's Maidan and the Blockupy events; German Bundestag Die Linke MP Heike Hansel noted on Twitter that while media largely condemned protesters in Wednesday's violence in Germany, "gusts of smoke during Maidan in Kiev were considered a sign of the liberation movement for the media."
Stimmungsmache der Presse gegen #Blockupy #18M. Auf dem Maidan in Kiew waren Rauchschwaden für die Presse Zeichen der Freiheitsbewegung!
— Heike Hänsel (@HeikeHaensel) 18 Март 2015
