476 cops injured in Hamburg riots
GERMAN foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel called for a Europewide investigative as violence flared again in Hamburg on Saturday night – after world leaders had left the G20 summit.
Anti-globalisation activists rioted and 186 protesters were arrested as cars were torched, stores looted, bikes burned in street barricades and windows smashed.
During three days of violence, 476 police officers were injured.
Cops used water cannon trucks against rioters, who attacked them with iron rods and pavement stones. Police detained 225 people temporarily, apart from the arrests.
The overwhelming majority of the tens of thousands who took to the streets protested peacefully against the summit, demanding quicker action against global warming and more help for refugees.
But Gabriel said: “Germany’s reputation is severely affected internationally by the events in Hamburg.”
The city’s police president Ralf Meyer said he was proud of the 20,000 officers who managed to provide security for the international leaders and their delegations.
But he said it was deplorable that so many officers were injured and that the violent riots could not be prevented.
The city’s interior minister, Andy Grote, said they had not expected the brutality by leftist extremists.