Drug check turns into melee in Germany

FRANKFURT, Germany — Police in the German city of Stuttgart said Sunday that 24 people were arrested and 19 officers injured after a check for drugs sparked attacks on officers and police vehicles followed by widespread vandalism of storefronts in the city center. Police said several hundred people were involved.

The disturbance started after officers stopped a 17-yearold on suspicion of drug possession as several hundred people partied outside about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. Bystanders started throwing stones and bottles, and smaller groups ran through surrounding streets breaking shop windows, according to police.

Police said 40 businesses were vandalized and nine were looted, while 12 police vehicles were damaged before officers brought the situation under control about 4 a.m.

Police officials said the violence had no apparent political motivation. They said the teen suspect initially stopped was a white German citizen. Of the two dozen people arrested, half held German passports and half were citizens of other countries.

Stuttgart Mayor Fritz Kuhn, a member of the environmentalist Greens party, called the attacks on police “unacceptable.” He said more people were on the street because many clubs and discos remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and that the party scene in a central park had drawn people from the surrounding area.

“One cause was likely alcohol, another the addiction to social media film clips,” Kuhn said.

(AP/dpa/Simon Adomat) Goods are strewn on the street after vandals broke into a shop Sunday in Stuttgart, Germany.