Looters Ransack Frankfurt Stores After Largely Peaceful Youth Protest
A mostly peaceful student protest in Frankfurt ended in looting and injured police officers. Authorities blame far-left infiltrators.
Key points
- Violent groups looted a sportswear store and a gun shop, taking at least two firearms.
- Police estimate about 8,000 people joined the protest.
- Several dozen people were arrested and several police officers were injured.
- Hesse's interior minister blamed about one hundred far-left activists for the unrest.
On Saturday afternoon, groups of violent protesters looted stores in central Frankfurt, Germany, after a nationwide student protest had passed largely without incident.
According to the newspaper Bild, the rioters first smashed the windows of a Snipes urban fashion store and stole sneakers. Police forced them to retreat, using a water cannon. They then moved on to a gun shop, broke its windows and managed to take at least two weapons, which security forces later recovered.
The protest was organized by the "GenZ-regelt" and "Generation Aufbruch" initiatives. They demanded investment in education, social security, healthcare, climate protection and affordable living, and opposed a possible return of compulsory military service. Police said about 8,000 people joined. Tensions rose in the early afternoon.
Hesse's interior minister, Roman Poseck, who went to the scene, said he had repeatedly warned that far-left violence would infiltrate the protest, and that this had happened. He estimated that about one hundred activists attacked officers with bottles, stones and fireworks, leaving several police officers injured.
During the unrest, several dozen people were arrested, and the situation in the city center remained tense into the night. Many merchants, especially on the luxury shopping streets, had boarded up their windows with wooden panels or other materials out of fear of unrest, while security forces maintained a large presence.