“The police were very armed with: short guns, battons, tear gas, pepper spray, metal and plastic handcuffs, long sticks, dogs, ropes and protective gears like helmet ans gloves. In the corridors the Gambian refugees tried to ask the police what was going on and why they were in the camp, but all we received as answer was pepper spray on our faces”. (Chronology of the Events in the Donauwörth Reception Camp by David Jassey). The expansion of the powers of public servants and authorities in May 2017, as well as the recent tightening of the Bavarian Polizeiaufgabengesetz (PAG) in 2017 and 2018 result in a legal facilitation of violent excesses and repression. Thus, in January 2018, the PAG declared camps as “dangerous places”, and thus legitimised excessive police operations and raids for which there must not even be given a valid “reason”. The Bavarian state of affairs and Donauwörth are only the most disgusting examples of the systematic use of police violence to smash protest and legitimize racism and deportation. As the case in Baden-Württemberg’s #Ellwangen shows, resistance and trespassing of those affected by police violence are constructed as accusations in order to be able to turn police officers into victims and refugees into perpetrators.
