Chancellor Angela Merkel assured parliament Wednesday that she takes seriously Germans' concerns about crimes committed by migrants and pledged a strong response, but condemned recent demonstrations as "hateful," saying there is "no excuse" for expressions of hate, Nazi sympathies or violence in response. The day before, in spontaneous protests by hundreds immediately after the killing, several foreigners were attacked and injured in the streets. But she said the concerns were "no excuse" for the demonstrations that followed the killing in Chemnitz. Speaking to parliament before Merkel, Alexander Gauland, a leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party whose members marched alongside the neo-Nazis in Chemnitz, defended their participation. He accused the "political mainstream" parties in parliament of making too much of the neo-Nazis involved for their own purposes.

Source: ABC News September 12, 2018 07:42 UTC