Kitty O’Brien, the Irish protester assaulted by Berlin police during a pro-Palestine demonstration, says Germany should be “shamed internationally” for its ill-treatment of protesters.
O’Brien (25) from Dublin was discharged from hospital on Thursday following a week of treatment for injuries, including a broken nose and humerus bone, sustained at a protest in support of Palestine on August 28th.
In an interview with RTE’s News at One, O’Brien said that in addition to sustaining broken bones, they face the possibility of suffering from long-standing radial nerve damage.
O’Brien described what happened as the furthest thing from an isolated incident when it comes to how protesters are treated by police in Germany.
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“I had surgery on my arm and I now have 11 screws holding the bone together,” said O’Brien. “Friends of mine have had broken noses, fractured wrists, a broken spine in one occasion and countless other injuries that I can’t even really summarise.
“Germany should be shamed internationally for how it is treating protesters in a country that claims to be democratic. It is absolutely bizarre. There is absolutely no attempts at silencing us that are going to work, because Palestine is still being genocided. I can’t wait to get back on the streets and look in the faces of those officers.”
O’Brien said they were protesting at the “deliberate killing of journalists in Palestine” when they were hit by a police officer.
“Since October 2023, 274 journalists have been murdered by Israel. It is because of these murders that we took to the streets that day. Texts from my friends in our group chat show that we were only there for about 15 minutes before I was punched in the face and dragged off as everybody saw.”
O’Brien stressed that what had occurred at the protest was not in any way unusual or “abnormal.”
My nose started bleeding and then, as he took me away, the same officer twisted my arm behind my back and snapped it
— Kitty O'Brien
“I am not exactly sure how many police were there but it is always a totally disproportionate ratio of police to protesters. I reckon there could have been about 20 to 25 of us standing on the street. There was definitely at least twice that in police.”
Describing the incident last week, O’Brien said the police officer “made direct shots with his fist to my face twice”. They added: “My nose started bleeding and then, as he took me away, the same officer twisted my arm behind my back and snapped it.”
O’Brien said they were grateful for the support since the incident, saying the solidarity received had been “absolutely insane”.
A criminal investigation has been initiated regarding the police officer involved on suspicion of assault and bodily harm in public office, according to a Berlin police spokesperson. The investigation will be primarily concerned with the proportionality of force used against O’Brien in the demonstration.
O’Brien does not expect the investigation to be impartial, saying: “It is an internal thing. Obviously this does not give me a lot of hope for whatever they manage to find through their so-called investigation.”
In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for the Berlin Police said O’Brien is currently under investigation “on suspicion of assaulting law-enforcement officers and on suspicion of insulting them”.
“Depending on the results of the video analysis by the investigating police department, further charges may be added,” the spokesperson said. “The suspect has already made a relevant police appearance and is known to the police”.
