Germany: Ireland voices concern over Berlin police violence

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has contacted German authorities after a police officer hit an Irish woman during a pro-Palestinian demonstration. Police say they are investigating officer proportionality.

Ireland’s ambassador to Germany, Maeve Collins, as well as senior officials from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, have contacted German authorities to convey their concern over the police hitting an Irish woman at a Berlin demonstration against the killing of journalists in Gaza on Thursday, according to Irish media reports. 

A department spokesperson quoted by Irish national broadcaster RTE said officials “stand ready to provide consular assistance to the citizen concerned.”

Video posted online showed a protester later identified as 25-year-old Dubliner Kitty O’Brien being hit twice in the face by police before being dragged away with blood running from her nose.

Later in the video, the bloodied O’Brien can be seen defiantly yelling at police, “You don’t f*cking scare us! This is on you. There is blood on your hands.”

Who is Kitty O’Brien and what happened to her in Berlin?

The group Irish Bloc Berlin — which bills itself as a “community of activists” with a “common commitment to Palestinian liberation” and resistance to “Germany’s systematic and racialized silencing of pro-Palestinian voices” — said O’Brien, a member, had undergone surgery for a badly broken right arm, claiming it “was pulled and then twisted with great force, snapping the bone.”

Berlin police say they have referred the incident to oversight authorities to determine whether police acted disproportionately or criminally.

O’Brien was expected to remain hospitalized for several days.

Arrests were made after numerous direct warnings were given that protesters end their event and disperse, said police, who added that orders were ignored and countered with agitation and illegal behavior on the part of protesters.

Police said “officers were compelled” to use force, adding that O’Brien had been warned several times that she faced a physical response if she continued to resist orders.

Police reported that O’Brien “refused to comply and insulted verbally and offended physically, several police officers,” alleging that O’Brien called police officers “genocide supporters” and “f*cking Nazis.”

Berlin: Pro-Palestinian activists face deportation

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Other video posted online showed a long verbal and physical interaction between O’Brien and police before she was struck.

Thursday’s “civil disobedience demonstration” was deemed illegal by authorities as it was not registered with police beforehand.

Police say roughly 94 people were detained on Thursday with all being released after their identities were established.

Authorities say they have begun a total of 96 criminal investigations as a result of the event.

Have there been further reactions to O’Brien’s treatment?

Kitty O’Brien’s treatment at the hands of police in Berlin has now sparked protests at the German Embassy in Dublin, with a few dozen individuals there voicing anger.

O’Brien’s aunt, a Dublin City Council member, was among those protesting, saying, “What you have here is a bunch of mostly young Irish people standing up for international law and standing up for the people of Gaza and Palestine, which is effectively been made illegal to do in Berlin at this stage.”

Prime Minister Micheal Martin called the incident “unacceptable,” with he, too, voicing “deep concern.”

Berlin police have previously come under criticism for their handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. 

Edited by Sean Sinico

Johnson on a shutdown, Obamacare subsidies and 2026

Speaker Mike Johnson was on “Fly Out Day” from the Punchbowl News Townhouse Thursday, and he made a lot of news.

That’s the idea of this show: get key lawmakers to talk about power in Congress.

Johnson addressed a lot of topics during his appearance – Jeffrey Epstein, Vladimir Putin, redistricting and the battle for control of the House in 2026. You have to watch the entire episode, which is available above on YouTube or on our podcast feed.

But we wanted to dig into some exceedingly newsy highlights from the first episode, presented by Meta.

Obamacare. Johnson cracked the door open – slightly – to extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of 2025. Without an extension, millions of Americans could see the cost of their health care soar or lose coverage.

We scooped Thursday that nine vulnerable House Republicans were pushing for a year-long extension of the tax credits, which help Americans on the Obamacare exchange afford health insurance.

Here’s Johnson’s first in-depth comments on the issue:

“I don’t love the policy, OK? But I understand the political realities and the realities of people on the ground. And this is real to folks. …

“I don’t think the policy is great. I don’t think we should be subsidizing high-income earners. It was a Covid-era issue, and so that’d be a big thing for the Republican Party to continue or advance that. At the same time, we don’t want anyone to be adversely affected by that.”

This comment is going to turn a lot of heads in the Capitol. In reality, including an extension of Obamacare premium tax credits in a funding bill at some point this year could help unlock a deal with Democrats.

But the issue is divisive among House Republicans, to say the least. And the idea of changing the Obamacare subsidies or scaling them back — by tightening the income limits, for instance — could turn off Democrats.

But Johnson’s comments show that there’s a potential deal to be had here.

A government shutdown. Johnson doesn’t want to shut the federal government down, he told us. And he’s talking at this point – 25 days before federal funding runs out – as if Republicans are going to be reasonable in their stopgap funding bill at the end of the month.

Johnson said that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have had “some conversations” about keeping the government open past Sept. 30.

“There are reasonable people on both sides who understand this is a basic function and responsibility of the government, so we’re working towards that,” Johnson said. “Final decisions have not been made, OK? But a lot of very, I think, productive discussions [are] going on about potentially the necessity of a CR before Oct. 1.”

The White House prefers a CR into the first quarter of 2026. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) wants a stopgap to November so that the “Four Corners” – the top appropriators from both chambers – can continue negotiating.

Johnson said he is “double-minded” on the issue. In other words, he understands the early 2026 strategy and Cole’s preferred November push.

The speaker is quite bullish on negotiating a compromise package of spending bills with the Senate. He said that there is a “very good shot” that the House and Senate could enter into a formal negotiation on the MilCon-VA spending bill, packaging it with three other appropriations bills in the coming months.

A crime bill. Johnson said he’s discussing passing a crime package, as President Donald Trump has been asking for.

Johnson said the legislation, which is still being drafted, would seek to tighten various policies, including those on juvenile crime.

“The same people that were behind [defund the police] are in favor of these restrictive policies that don’t allow the cops to do their job,” Johnson said. “And I think that’s a big problem. We’re looking at in what way we could have federal legislation that would address the root of those problems. Because I think that, as demonstrated in [D.C.], I think you can solve it if you just put the right resources and time and energy into [it.]”

Some other odds and ends:

1) Johnson said Republicans are working on a second reconciliation package. The speaker added that the package will include some items that were “left on the cutting room floor during the last reconciliation bill.”

We asked Johnson multiple times if that package will include further Medicaid changes beyond the One Big Beautiful Bill. The Louisiana Republican wouldn’t “forecast” what would be in the package.

“I don’t want to put my thumb on the scale,” Johnson said. “I want this to be member-driven, as the last one was, because that’s how we got it done.”

2) Johnson claimed Democrats started the redistricting wars that have roiled the House – something that Democrats, of course, would take issue with.

“This started with Eric Holder,” Johnson said, speaking of former President Barack Obama’s attorney general who chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. “They’ve been doing this for longer than a decade. OK? And blue states have gerrymandered Republican representation entirely out – entirely. So both sides have some fault in this thing.”

Also … Scalise’s communications director is leaving. Lauren Fine, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s longtime communications director, is leaving Capitol Hill to join Google’s global communications and public affairs team. Fine will work on policy communications.

Fine has worked for Scalise for more than eight years. Fine’s departure is just the latest of several senior Scalise aides that have left this year.

Kerry Rom will be Scalise’s next communications director. She was deputy communications director to Johnson. Rom was also deputy communications director for Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) presidential campaign and worked at Targeted Victory, the NRCC and RNC.