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Dozens
injured as anti-G20 protesters clash with Hamburg police ‘like
never before’
RT,
7
July, 2017
An
anti-G20 rally in Hamburg has erupted into a violent confrontation
between police and protesters. Dozens of officers have been injured
by rioters as sporadic clashes on the streets of the German city
continued into the night.
“There have been offenses committed by smaller groups [but] we now have the situation under control... I was there myself, I’ve seen nothing like that before," Hamburg police spokesman Timo Zill told German broadcaster ZDF.
The
‘Welcome to Hell’ anti-globalist rally started off relatively
peacefully as activists marched through the streets chanting slogans
and holding banners. Clashes begun in the early evening after roughly
1,000 anti-globalism activists, wearing face masks, reportedly
refused to reveal their identity to the authorities.
According
to an official police statement, the trouble started when officers
tried to separate aggressive black-bloc rioters from peaceful
protesters at the St. Pauli Fish Market but were met with bottles,
poles and iron bars, prompting them to use justifiable force.
Police
used pepper-spray on rioting protesters. Water cannons were also
deployed by authorities and several people seemed to be injured as a
number of people were seen on the ground or with bloody faces being
led away by police.
Footage from the scene also showed columns of green and orange smoke rising above the crowds.
Footage from the scene also showed columns of green and orange smoke rising above the crowds.
At
least 76 police officers were injured in the riots, most, though,
suffered light injuries, Bild reports. Five of them were admitted to
hospital, a police officer told AFP.
One
policeman suffered an eye injury after fireworks exploded in front of
his face.
The
number of injured demonstrators has not yet been released by
authorities, DW German notes.
As
a result of the violence, organizers declared the protest over
Thursday evening, but pockets of activists remained on the streets
throughout the night.
Police
confirmed persistent sporadic attacks on security forces in the
districts of St. Pauli and Altona. Damage to property has also been
reported throughout the city.
An mehreren Stellen im Bereich St. Pauli werden Gegenstände / Unrat auf die Straße gezogen und entzündet.
#G20HAM17
Rubbish
bins surrounding St. Pauli area continued to burn late into the
night, with the Hamburg fire department announcing that it answered
almost 60 calls of raging fires after midnight.
‘Welcome
to Hell’ organizers have accused the police of using
disproportionate force against the activists. Up to 20 protesters
were arrested in the clashes, Andreas Blechschmidt, one of the
‘Welcome to Hell, organizers told Bild.
According
to RT’s correspondent on the scene, Peter Oliver, one of the
protesters’ grievances was that they received no clear directives
from the police as to where they were allowed to march and found
themselves kettled by officers in riot gear once they set off.
“They
are macing everyone,” one witness at the scene told RT. “As far
as I could tell, they were attacking the demonstration with no
reason.”
Erneuter Hinweis: Wir bitten Unbeteiligte, sich vom Geschehen fernzuhalten.
#G20HAM17
“I’m
from Hamburg, [and] I’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve had
fights about squatted houses and all that, [but] I’ve never seen
anything like that. The aggression, as far as I could tell, the
purposelessness… my face hurts, I’ve got mace and everything,
this is unbelievable.”
The
‘Welcome to Hell’ march was staged a day before the two-day G20
summit begins in Hamburg.
Police
estimated that around 12,000 people attended the march. Earlier,
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said there was a
hard-core group of 8,000 leftist militants who were ready to use
violence.
Over
15,000 more officers has been dispatched to Hamburg from across the
country, supported by specialist vehicles such as armored cars, water
cannons carriers and helicopters.
Protests
have been banned in Hamburg’s inner city and on roads leading to
the airport. Activists have accused authorities of suppressing their
right to legitimate protest, but the city says it can take no chances
with the safety of thousands of foreign delegates who will attend the
G20, including world leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Justin Trudeau
and Donald Trump.
Thursday
night’s clashes were preceded by similar violence which erupted on
several occasions in the run-up to the high-profile G20 summit.
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