Rioters Loot Stores, Attack Emergency Workers in Frankfurt Amid European Protests
Demonstrations organised by Gen Z regelt escalate into violence across Germany and France; authorities deploy water cannons and tear gas.
Callum Smith
Rioters looted stores and attacked emergency workers in Frankfurt as protests swept across Europe.
Around 8,000 protesters gathered at the event's peak. Police deployed a water cannon to disperse demonstrators, arresting one person and seizing two weapons after a gun shop's windows were smashed in central Frankfurt.
The campaign group Gen Z regelt organized the demonstrations. Germany's national school student umbrella organization, BSK, has distanced itself from the initiative and plans its own protest.
Sean Baker, a student at the Technical University of Berlin, planned to join protests to highlight the poor state of campus buildings. Baker stated, "When you go inside and enter the rooms, it looks like an abandoned building. Yet this is where we're expected to study on a regular basis."
Germany faces challenges with reviving economic growth, pressure on pensions, and a shrinking working-age population. Some barricades were set on fire in Hamburg.
Across France, more than 320,000 people demonstrated on Saturday. French police fired tear gas and baton-charged crowds after firebombs targeted them in Paris and Lyon; four police officers and one gendarme were injured in Paris.
The French interior ministry reported at least 290 detentions nationwide on Saturday. Daytime marches led by trade unions and high school students in France remained largely peaceful, but tensions escalated at night.
Roman Poseck, the interior minister of Hesse state, commented on the situation, stating, "We all have those images from France in our minds – looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers... France must not be held up as a model in this regard."
Clashes also occurred in the Albanian capital of Tirana. Police in Barcelona and northern Italian cities were on high alert due to social media calls for demonstrations.
Official numbers suggested turnout in France was below the 182,000 participants organizers initially expected. French police arrested five people accused of attempting to loot a Foot Locker store in Marseille.