Protestsupdated 52m ago2 min read
MapRioters Loot Shops In Central Frankfurt As Police Disperse Gen Z Cost-Of-Living Protests
“accused ‘troublemakers from the immigrant community’ of acting alongside Left-wing extremists”
“Senior German political figures blamed the far left for the unrest”
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Rioters looted shops in central Frankfurt as protests against cost of living turned violent. Police used water cannons to disperse crowds and some officers were injured.
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Frankfurt turns violent
Rioters looted shops in central Frankfurt late on Saturday as clashes erupted in German cities over the cost of living, with police saying they used water cannon to disperse protesters targeting emergency workers with fireworks, stones and bottles. Gen Z regelt organized the largely peaceful demonstrations earlier in the day to protest underfunding in schools, the high cost of living, public spending cuts and military service. Alexander Dobrindt told Bild newspaper that overnight police had prevented "violence like that seen in Paris" in recent weeks and called for "harsh punishments" for rioters and looters.
Frankfurt police said "violent riots" were occurring in the city centre and special police units had been deployed, as windows of several shops were smashed and molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency services. Berlin police said a smaller demonstration in the evening resulted in 27 police officers being injured and up to 56 people temporarily detained.
Infiltration claims and quotes
Roman Poseck said "around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists" had infiltrated the protest in the city and added that it was "shameful" how the protests had ended. Lina Friedrich told reporters that the demonstrations were "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion" and said "What matters most to us is better support for the health and education systems." Cologne police chief Johannes Hermanns said it was "deeply saddening" that young people who wanted to peacefully demonstrate for their future were infiltrated today by extremists who had nothing but violence in mind.
Hamburg police said people dressed in black set off fireworks and set barricades on fire, and public broadcaster NDR reported that 120 people were arrested. The BBC said the situation calmed down overnight into Sunday in Frankfurt, while similar instances took place in other German cities following largely peaceful demonstrations.
Europe-wide protests and fallout
The unrest in Germany followed similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people also demonstrated on Saturday demanding action on the high cost of living and poor public services, especially in the education sector. The French interior ministry said there were more than 770 arrests across France during the demonstrations on Saturday, roughly half as many as the previous week's protests. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said a police officer had been injured by a molotov cocktail and French prosecutors later launched an attempted murder probe.
In Germany, the BBC said authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin reported as many as 18,000 protesters, roughly half of what the organisers had estimated on their website. Gen Z regelt spokesperson Lina Friedrich said the demonstrations were "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion," as police reported arrests and violence in multiple cities.