BERLIN (AP) — German police fired water cannons at demonstrators in downtown Berlin protesting coronavirus restrictions after saying that the crowd refused to listen to their entreaties to wear masks and keep their distance from one another in line with regulations.

As the cannons shot into the crowd outside the landmark Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday, police in riot gear moved through the crowd carrying away some protesters.

Some demonstrators threw fireworks and flares in response.

The protests came as German lawmakers opened debate on a bill that will provide the legal underpinning for the government to issue social distancing rules, require masks in public and close stores and other venues to slow the spread of the virus. While such measures are supported by most people in Germany, a vocal minority has staged regular rallies around the country arguing that the restrictions are unconstitutional.

The measures are expected to pass both the lower and then upper house of parliament and be quickly signed by Germany’s president.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of people protesting German measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus rallied Wednesday outside barricades cordoning off Berlin's government center as lawmakers debated a bill that would strengthen officials' ability to impose restrictions.

A series of protests directly outside the parliament building were banned due to security concerns, and fencing was put up around a wide area, including the Bundestag and nearby parliamentary offices, the federal chancellery and the presidential residence and offices, in case any protesters decided to defy the ban.

The crowds were being observed by police helicopters and water-cannon trucks stood waiting nearby in case they were needed.

Outside the metal cordons, protesters gathered by the landmark Brandenburg Gate, and on streets and bridges. Like most protests against coronavirus restrictions, the demonstrators came from all walks of life, ranging from the far-left to the far-right, while also including families, students and others.

“We want our lives back,” read one sign carried by protesters. Another said “Put banks under surveillance, not citizens.” One demonstrator held a flag with a picture of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump and an image invoking the right-wing conspiracy theory “QAnon,” while another had a placard showing top German virologist Christian Drosten in prison garb with the word “guilty.”

The protests came as German lawmakers opened debate on a bill that will provide the legal underpinning for the government to issue social distancing rules, require masks in public and close stores and other venues to slow the spread of the virus. While such measures are supported by most people in Germany, a vocal minority has staged regular rallies around the country arguing that the restrictions are unconstitutional.

The measures are expected to pass both the lower and then upper house of parliament and be quickly signed by Germany’s president.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reacted sharply to the accusation from some protesters that the measures were akin to the 1933 “Enabling Act," which allowed the Nazis to enact laws without parliamentary approval.

“Everyone, naturally, has the right to criticize the measures, our democracy thrives through the exchange of different opinions,” he wrote on Twitter. “But whoever relativizes or trivializes the Holocaust has learned nothing from our history.”

A demonstration earlier this month in the eastern city of Leipzig ended in chaos when thousands of protesters defied police orders to wear masks and, later, to disperse. Some participants attacked police officers and journalists.

Local authorities were criticized for acting too slowly and not forcefully enough to break up the crowd in Leipzig, allowing the situation to get out of control.

Berlin police said they had given out multiple citations already Wednesday for violating mask-wearing regulations, but that their appeals for people to wear protective gear and to keep their distance from one another were largely being ignored.

Police said the order had now been given to detain people not following the regulations.

“If that does not help, the only course that remains is to disperse the gathering,” police said on Twitter.

Germany, which has been praised for its handling of the first wave of the virus, has recently seen a sharp uptick in numbers of new infections and is now midway through a second partial lockdown meant to try and slow the spread. Overall the country has seen 833,000 coronavirus cases and more than 13,000 virus-confirmed deaths in the pandemic, a death toll one-fourth that of Britain's.

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