As fed up as most Americans are with many of the incoherent, ineffective mitigation measures being forced on them in response to COVID, Europe seems to be more fed up. Instead of just complaining about it on social media, they are taking to the streets, and that’s leading to some wild, violent encounters between protesters and police.

France and Germany, in particular, are seeing mass demonstrations.

Go France 🇫🇷! People are on the streets in more than 190 towns. pic.twitter.com/hOiDNmjNp7

— VeBee🇺🇸✝️ (@VeBo1991) July 31, 2021

Video from Paris showed police roughing up people, throwing them to the ground, beating them, and dragging away those who resisted. It was reminiscent of what happened in Australia last week.

Paris today. Absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/7tnM9CtkIS

— Ian Miles Cheong @ stillgray.substack.com (@stillgray) July 31, 2021

In Berlin, police attacked people who appeared to be doing nothing more than daring to be in public. At one point, a woman is punched in the face. Others are shoved to the ground. Remember, this is in a country with 55% of all people vaccinated and millions more with natural immunity. When you exclude children who aren’t statistically vulnerable to the virus, that number is even higher. Yet, the police and the politicians commanding them are behaving like this anyway.

NOW – Thousands protest in #Berlin against Covid restrictions despite a ban by the authorities. The police try to regain control with punches, batons, and pepper spray. #b0108pic.twitter.com/s3iuKbkFoa

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) August 1, 2021

And here’s a kid being kicked in the head to save lives.

Berlin, this cop is hitting a little boy in the head for worrying about his mom. 🤬🤯 pic.twitter.com/3RQNKwzzbu

— Willow (@Willow__Bella) August 1, 2021

Right now, Germany is seeing an average of 14 deaths a day from COVID — in a country with 83 million people. The disconnect from reality is mind-blowing. There is simply no justification to treat people this way at any point in time, but that’s especially true when you are talking about 14 deaths a day out of 83 million people.

Besides, what do you think spreads COVID more? People living their normal lives? Or crowds of protesters and police spitting on each other, rolling around on the ground, and throwing punches?

At the end of the day, it takes people standing up to push back on this kind of thing. It seems growing numbers are willing to do that in Europe. One has to question why that’s not happening in blue states in the US that continue to stomp on basic rights.

Europe is gonna pop off and rebel before we do and as an American, you be quite ashamed of that. https://t.co/6RrNtZub8s

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) August 1, 2021

All of this, no doubt, makes many on the left squirm who long to be dominated by a massive bureaucratic state hiding behind the facade of expertise, but freedom doesn’t just exist. It’s something that’s taken or protected. Europeans are lashing out. I have no idea if they’ll succeed, but they’ve certainly got the innate right to do what they are doing.