'Many far-right protesters came from out of state'

About 6,000 far right supporters participated in Monday's demonstrations in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, including many hooligans who came from other parts of Germany, the interior minister of the state said on Tuesday.

The demonstrations were triggered by the deadly stabbing of a German man that authorities have blamed on two migrants, and a great deal of "fake news" circulating on the Internet, the state official, Roland Woeller, told reporters. He said about 1,000 people participated in anti-right wing protests.

Michael Kretschmer, premier of the state, said Saxony was stepping up its fight against right-wing extremism after a spate of violence and harassment targeting of migrants in the wake of the crime, as well as cases in which people performed the so-called Hitler salute, banned in Germany after the Nazi era.