In the run-up to Borussia Dortmund’s match against Bayern Munich, fans of the Bavarian club got into an altercation with the police and chose not to enter the stadium for the match.
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At the time, BILD reported that police used batons and pepper spray against some of the fans, while 29 Bayern fans attempted to gain access to the away section with unauthorized tickets. This is what Stankowitz said:
“In light of the video images, which we can and will also subject to criminal proceedings, it seems more than strange that the police are instinctively blamed.
“A video clearly shows a coordinated and planned action by rioters who entered the stadium without passing security checks and intended to enter by force.
“Naturally, criminal acts involve police intervention. I want to make this perfectly clear: more than 80,000 people can easily attend a football match peacefully and without violence.
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“And the small fraction who, thanks to the video evidence, by the way, do not do so, subsequently criticize the police’s compliance with the rule of law.
“For me this demonstrates a lack of self-reflection and is symptomatic of a misguided sense of personal importance,” explained the deputy chief of police of the city of Westphalia.