Thousands gather in German city to protest against far-right rally

Around 8,000 people gathered on Saturday inthe German city Kassel to protest against far-right extremism sevenweeks after the killing of local politician Walter Luebcke.The protesters had gathered for three separate demonstrations againsta planned far-right rally, police said Saturday morning.  The far-right protesters planned to rally against what they say is anattempt to use Luebcke's killing in order to unfairly paint them asviolent.However, police said the far-right protesters had not arrived bynoon, when the rally was supposed to begin.The demonstration was scheduled to take place after a court deniedattempts to ban it earlier this week.Police earlier said they expected up to 500 far-right protesters, andseveral thousand counter-protesters. After calls for violence begancirculating online, police prepared for a major operation, and havecompletely cordoned off the area around the far-right protesters'meeting point.Walter Luebcke, a local politician in Kassel, was fatally shot at hishome on June 2.He had become the target of threats for supporting Chancellor AngelaMerkel's refugee policies. Prosecutors say Luebcke's death was apolitically motivated murder linked to right-wing extremism.