‘Everybody went totally mad’: Hamburg violence continues

HAMBURG: Fresh clashes erupted early yesterday in the streets of Hamburg following the end of the G20 summit, with protesters setting fire to a number of vehicles, the police said.

The protesters gathered after the close of the summit in the Schanzen district, a stronghold for extreme left radicals which has been the site of multiple confrontations since Thursday.

Armed with glass bottles and targeting vehicles, many of which they set on fire, the protesters were pushed back by the police, using water cannon and tear gas, the police said on Twitter.

The police said more officers had been injured, and more people arrested.

According to the most recent figures given by the police on Saturday, some 213 police officers have been injured since Thursday, and 143 people have been detained. No accurate number for protestors injured is available.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people swarmed into the streets. Organisers of the main march said about 76,000 people were taking part, and tens of thousands of police officers were mobilised to keep watch over the demonstrations.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces an election in two months, had hoped the demonstrations would show leaders of other G20 nations where protests are routinely quashed that a thriving democracy can withstand public criticism and dissent.

Instead, Ms Merkel had to condemn the violence and explain why the streets of Hamburg, a wealthy port city, at times looked like a war zone.

“I have full understanding for peaceful protest, but violent demonstrations are a threat to human life,” she said on Friday, after the first night of violence. “It is not acceptable.”

Hours later, 1,500 black-clad anarchists rampaged through the streets of Schanzen, plundering shops and setting fire to cars and trash cans for several hours, police said.

An elite unit of special forces was called in to quell the violence, but only after extensive damage had been done.

Hamburg has a long history of leftist politics, with occasional clashes between anarchists and police. But the violence on Friday night rose to a level that shocked some longtime residents.

“What happened last night has nothing to do with legitimate criticism,” said Massimo Gugliotta, who was surveying a charred pile of rubble on Saturday. “Whoever did this was just using the idea of protest as an excuse for violence.”

Major streets in the city were blocked off to allow delegations of leaders to go to and from meetings. But many Hamburg residents, whose lives had been disrupted by the events, said they hoped to show that legitimate protests could be peaceful and effective.

One contingent of about 12,000 people, galvanised by the theme “Solidarity Instead of G20”, began gathering early on Saturday, police said. Jan van Aken, a lawmaker with the Left Party, organised the demonstration with several other groups, including the Hamburg Refugee Council, local environmentalists and the Communist Party.

“Join the masses to send a signal against the G20, against the escalation and against meaningless violence,” Mr van Aken said in a Twitter message. “Come out, now more than ever!”

In another part of the city, church and community leaders joined local politicians from Hamburg’s centrist parties to organise a demonstration that proclaimed “Hamburg Shows Attitude”.

Several hundred people marched with blue, pink and yellow balloons, while others held signs with messages like “Make Global Trade Fair” and “Stop the Violence”.

Among the protesters was Michael Schmidt, 80, a writer, who had travelled to Hamburg from Munich with his son.

“We are fed up with the system” perpetuated by the G20, Mr Schmidt said.

He denounced “the unquestioning of the capitalist system, the social irresponsibility and ecological irresponsibility” of the member nations.

Vanessa Lamm, a Schanzen resident who observed the protests in the district until about 2am, said police had waited to act until demonstrators began throwing stones and destroying property.

“Everybody went totally mad after that — the police and the people,” Ms Lamm said. “When they started to destroy the shops, the police went in along with the special forces, who were stronger.”