German anti-Islam group PEGIDA's anniversary rally ends in violence
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DRESDEN - Violence flared in the eastern city of Dresden after German anti-Islam group PEGIDA staged a rally to mark its first anniversary Monday.
Scuffles broke out when police tried to separate far-right protesters and counter-demonstrators attempting to block their path. Marko Laske, a spokesman for city police, said one person was hospitalized and a counter-demonstrator was detained.
Dresden authorities had warned ahead of the protest that they would crack down hard on violence, amid growing concern in Germany that PEGIDA - whose name stands for "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West" - is becoming more radical.
Many in the crowd held banners with slogans such as "refugees not welcome." Speakers who touched on the issue of migration elicited chants of "send them back."
