This article was translated from Arabic. Read the Arabic original
A youth protest in the German city of Frankfurt am Main began largely peacefully on Halloween night but ended in a night of violence, with Molotov cocktails thrown at police officers, shops looted and barricades set on fire.
Around 8,000 people had demonstrated in the city centre under the slogan “Gen Z regelt”, demanding better education, affordable housing and social justice. According to the interior minister of the state of Hesse, around 100 rioters began deliberately throwing fireworks at security forces in the evening, while stones and bottles were also hurled.
At 18:20 the assembly was declared dissolved via loudspeakers, but groups prepared to use violence continued to roam the city centre. Molotov cocktails were eventually thrown towards the police, and several officers were injured during the night’s operations.
Shops looted on the Zeil
The most violent scenes took place on the well-known shopping street Zeil, where rioters smashed shop windows, broke into stores and stole goods. A gun shop was also damaged, and burning rubbish containers blocked several streets.
Police deployed water cannon, a helicopter and special forces, and large parts of the city centre were cordoned off. According to initial reports, more than 30 people were temporarily detained, while the extent of the considerable damage has yet to be determined. Among those detained is a man in a Batman costume whose picture spread widely; it is not yet known what exactly he is accused of.
Calls for tough penalties
Hesse’s Minister-President Boris Rhein of the CDU said he was shocked by the violent excesses and announced consequences, while German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU called for tough penalties for those responsible.
The Gen Z regelt movement had called for peaceful protests across Germany, and tens of thousands took to the streets in more than 30 cities. Riots later also broke out in Hamburg and Berlin.
Source: Heute
