Several journalists were harassed by German police as they attempted to cover the notoriously secretive Bilderberg conference being held this year in Dresden.
The Bilderberg conference invokes strong reaction among some for its commitment to holding meetings among the most influential business and political leaders, completely in private.
The conference, initially started by the Dutch royal family in the 1950s, is the subject of various internet conspiracy theories and is said to have been the incubator for ideas ranging from free trade agreements like NAFTA to the creation of what was to become the European Union.
The 2016 Bilderberg conference is scheduled to begin Thursday and one of the topics in particular called: “Europe: migration, growth, reform, vision, unity” will deal with issues surrounding the migrant crisis.
Security for the event is understandably tight due to the high profile figures who attend the conference. This year sees guests ranging from King William of the Netherlands, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble and other high ranking political leaders. Captains of industry are also well represented at the conference which has led many to speculate that the purpose for the meetings is more of a lobbying event than a grand conspiracy to rule the globe.
Canadian journalist Lauren Southern of The Rebel Media travelled to Dresden to cover the event and was met almost immediately with hostility on Wednesday afternoon. Ms. Southern, along with other reporters and film makers, stayed at the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Grand Hotel, the site of this year’s conference. The journalists were told that they had to check out because of the conference and claimed that they were harassed by staff on their way out the door.
Luke Rudkowski, a September 11th conspiracy theorist or “truther“, claimed that in the afternoon the police had threatened to physically assault him if he did not leave the area. Rudkowski alleged that several police officers searched him and his associate examining their mobile phones and laptop computers.
Later in the evening Lauren Southern took to Twitter and Facebook to say that she and her crew had been surrounded by German police.
The police are alleged to have taken her passport, then marched each member of her crew behind a police van where they inspected mobile phones, laptops and camera equipment. Ms. Southern and her team were released by police with a warning after being detained for the better part of 40 minutes.