Police break up mass ‘social media brawl’

POLICE in Berlin had to break up a mass brawl of more than 400 people – after fans of two rival social media influencers clashed in Germany.

Nine arrests were made and multiple knives confiscated as officers were forced to use tear gas to break up the organised dust-up in the city’s famous Alexanderplatz.

Rocks were also thrown as the violence spilled into the square’s underground station.

Referring to the incident afterwards, the German Police Trade Union wrote on Twitter: “Influencers are negligent with their influence; it seems to be in fashion to inflame tensions simply to get more clicks and more followers.”

The trouble flared from an online dispute between YouTube stars Thats Bekir, a 20-something from Stuttgart, and 17-year-old Bahar Al Amood, from Berlin.

After weeks of goading each other, the pair arranged to meet in Alexanderplatz on Thursday evening, and encouraged their fans to turn up and support them.

It took police four hours to return calm, the ‘Berliner Morgenpost’ reports. Criminal charges have been lodged against 13 people.

Writing on Instagram afterwards, Mr Al Amood, who has 14,000 online subscribers, claimed he had tried to speak to officers to de-escalate tensions, but, he claimed, they “refused to listen”.

His rival, who has 250,000 YouTube followers, told fans he had been injured during the violence, and wrote: “I need a break.”