Germany: Clashes erupt as 'Thugida' extremists march on Hitler's birthday

Clashes erupted as thousands of antifa descended on a far-right ‘Thugida’ march in Jena, Tuesday, as the extremist nationalist group with Neo-Nazi affiliations gathered on Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
Some 150 Thugida protesters were met by around 4,000 anti-racist demonstrators, with a heavy police presence in place to prevent altercations. Despite strong policing, antifa threw bottles at Thugida activists, many bearing Nazi-inspired tattoos and German national flags used during the Third Reich.
Later police stormed the protest as tensions grew, using pepper spray and detaining some 25 far-right demonstrators. Police water cannons, road-blocks, surveillance helicopters, and horses were brought out for the rally.
Permission for the Thugida demonstration was at first rejected by Jena’s local police, with officials calling for the organisers to schedule the demo on another day that did not coincide with Hitler’s birthday.
A court overthrew this decision based on the organiser’s claim that the demonstration was not orchestrated to celebrate Hitler's birthday, but to fight against so-called ‘leftist terror’.