Disturber of Weidel's summer interview claims: It was all agreed with ARD and the police

Last Sunday, the ARD summer interview with Alice Weidel was drowned out by loud protest noise. Whistles, chants of "Fuck AfD!", and deafeningly loud music made it almost impossible for moderator Marcus Preiß and AfD leader Weidel to understand each other. Meanwhile, criticism of the acoustic "disruption," planned and implemented by the Center for Political Beauty , overshadows two crucial issues.

How did the activists know that the interview would be recorded at noon? And why did the Berlin police even allow the bus to drive to the Spree? Philipp Ruch, founder of the "Center for Political Beauty," said in an interview with Bild deputy editor-in-chief Paul Ronzheimer that the action was only possible with the help of the Berlin police and ARD.

“Television moment of the year, in close cooperation with ARD”

In his new podcast episode, "AfD Disruptors: Does This Actually Only Help Weidel?" Ronzheimer asks how the activists knew when the interview would take place. Ruch comments: "That's our trade secret, of course. But I wouldn't call it a disruption, but rather a beautification effort." Together with the other demonstrators, he "created something like the television moment of the year, in close cooperation with ARD."

Ruch makes a claim that Paul Ronzheimer leaves hanging without comment. The Bild deputy editor doesn't follow up or ask any counter-questions. Accordingly, it's unclear whether the "artist" intended to harm the broadcaster with such a statement or whether he was actually informed by staff members that the interview recording had begun.

According to Philipp Ruch, the "Center for Political Beauty" was supported by more than just public broadcasting . When asked how he was able to stop his bus directly opposite the ARD open-air studio, he said: "I don't want to go into details right now, but in close consultation with the Berlin police, we were actually able to do what we planned there."

In this case, too, no further questions are asked. Furthermore, Philipp Ruch is not confronted with the fact that the Berlin police have initiated two administrative offense proceedings against the organizers of the protest because of the loud protests. The police justify this decision by arguing that the protest in the government district was not registered. This allegedly violated Berlin's assembly law.

Riot action is compared to Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Hitler

In the further course of the interview, Ruch repeatedly describes the AfD as “certainly right-wing extremist”, but does not mention in this context that the classification of the AfD by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is being examined in court.

The activist then compares the riots during the summer interview with the Stauffenberg assassination attempt: "Yesterday was July 20th. Stauffenberg was also accused of the fact that the attack on Hitler was actually just grist to the mill of the NSDAP."

Ruch rejects the criticism that he and his "Center for Political Beauty" are ultimately only helping the AfD. He describes himself as an "expert" on the AfD, and accordingly, the onus is on others to explain, not him. Until the end of the podcast, the activist's claims are neither categorized, commented on, nor questioned.

The day after the incident, the Berlin police issued a press release that also raised questions. The Berliner Zeitung reported on it.