Thousands of demonstrators protested against Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke during his recent tour of North Rhine-Westphalia. On Monday evening, Höcke spoke at an AfD event in Düsseldorf-Garath, drawing an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 protesters organized by political, church, and civil society alliances. Earlier, on Sunday, Höcke met with AfD politicians at the Externsteine in the Teutoburger Forest and delivered a speech at an AfD New Year's reception in Dortmund, where approximately 3,300 people protested. These appearances are seen as support for the right-wing faction within the North Rhine-Westphalia AfD ahead of their state party conference on March 7-8, where a leadership contest is anticipated. Höcke himself faces scrutiny, with his AfD in Thuringia classified as extremist by the state's domestic intelligence agency.