Police gain upper hand after Hamburg's day of G20 clashes

[rooster59]

Police gain upper hand after Hamburg's day of G20 clashes

By Joseph Nasr and Sabine Siebold

 

Barricades burn as protesters clash with riot police during the protests at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

 

HAMBURG (Reuters) - Police gained the upper hand in Hamburg early on Saturday morning after a day of running clashes with anti-capitalist protesters seeking to disrupt the city's G20 summit of global leaders.

 

Heavily armed police commandos moved in after activists had spent much of the day attempting to wrest control of the streets from more than 15,000 police, setting fires, looting and building barricades.

 

With meetings between leaders of the club of 20 largest global economies finished for the day, police stormed the last holdouts, who had gathered in the Schanzenviertel district, an area known for its left-wing activism and culture of squatting.

 

With two months to go before she seeks re-election, Chancellor Angela Merkel had hoped to cement Germany's growing global leadership role with a demonstration of its unwavering commitment to free speech, assembly and dissent by holding the summit in the centre of a city with a proud radical tradition.

 

Protesters torched cars and lorries, smashed windows in banks, looted retail stores and hurled paving slabs and other objects before police managed to restore order. Some 197 officers were injured after two days of clashes in the port city. Police made 19 arrests and detained dozens more.

 

Standing in a nearby falafel restaurant, Mohammad Halabi, 32, a Syrian who arrived in Germany as a refugee some 18 months before, surveyed the scene with disbelief.

 

"They are crazy. I can't believe my eyes," he said. "They have such a beautiful country and they're destroying it."

 

But G20 participants said they had never seen protesters closer to such a summit than in Hamburg and praised the work of police in keeping the event safe, suggesting Merkel's gamble had paid off.

 

BEETHOVEN VS HENDRIX

 

"I have every understanding for peaceful demonstrations but violent demonstrations put human lives in danger," Merkel had said earlier.

 

Most of the 100,000 protesters were peaceful, hoisting signs saying the G20 leaders were not welcome, or engaging in mass bicycle processions through the city centre wearing brightly coloured uniforms.

 

When world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping gathered for a Beethoven concert in the Elbphilharmonie concert hall on one side of the river, protesters blared the music of Jimi Hendrix from the other side.

 

But in the night's most dramatic scenes, police pursued members of the radical Black Bloc movement, which wants to overthrow capitalism, across scaffolding as they sought refuge on rooftops. Below, burning barricades billowed thick smoke.

 

Despite the chaos that threatened to overwhelm parts of the city during much of the day, the summit, with thousands of participants from dozens of countries, was largely unaffected.

 

Police declined to clear U.S. first lady Melania Trump's motorcade to leave her hotel for a tour of the historic harbour, and protests delayed buses taking visitors away from the state dinner that concluded the meetings.

 

The summit is due to conclude on Saturday.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-08

[peergin]

So much damage. Who will pay for that? I don't think the scum will pay because they have nothing. Why so few arrests?

[katana]

Footage from the scene at Hamburg:

 

 

 

[williamgeorgeallen]

wonder if these meeting really accomplish anything. would be better to hold them in a more remote location.

[Rancid]

3 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

wonder if these meeting really accomplish anything. would be better to hold them in a more remote location.

Perhaps remote locations don't have the required quality of 5 star hotels, 5 star airports, 5 star whores and 5 star dining that our elected representatives require?

[Morch]

8 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

wonder if these meeting really accomplish anything. would be better to hold them in a more remote location.

Holding such meeting in remote, inaccessible location would promote conspiracy theories and further allegations of participants being out of touch with the public. Not that there's lack of either even with current locations chosen.

[williamgeorgeallen]

44 minutes ago, Morch said:

Holding such meeting in remote, inaccessible location would promote conspiracy theories and further allegations of participants being out of touch with the public. Not that there's lack of either even with current locations chosen.

yes you are probably right. still makes me wonder if these meetings accomplish anything and if it is worth more than the carnage.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

yes you are probably right. still makes me wonder if these meetings accomplish anything and if it is worth more than the carnage.

 

I don't know that the summits themselves are key in reaching agreements. Often, most of the actual positions and related details exchange hands prior to leaders meeting. But at the very least, such meetings convey less hostility, and perhaps contribute to sides relating to each other as other than labels. Better than the alternatives.

[DM07]

On 7/9/2017 at 4:17 AM, katana said:

Footage from the scene at Hamburg:

 

 

 

Yeah...right!

Because 12 burning cars and 3 looted shops resemble Aleppo!

Calm the #@$% down, you $#@&^!

[baboon]

On 09/07/2017 at 3:16 AM, peergin said:

So much damage. Who will pay for that? I don't think the scum will pay because they have nothing. Why so few arrests?

When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.

But hey, go after protesters as usual and ignore the reasons they are protesting. The System works just fine after all...

[Ace of Pop]

Got nothing to loose ?.What about the Student Loans they rarely pay back ,free health care if a nasty Policeman slaps their bums, cheap accommodation,welfare benefits, cheap travel to their next WHINGIN MEET UP!. Stick the Lefty Swine in Boot Camps.[emoji67]‍[emoji310]


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[i claudius]

When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
But hey, go after protesters as usual and ignore the reasons they are protesting. The System works just fine after all...

So that makes it ok to loot and burn shops and set fire to cars in the street ,even if it yours .so speakes the left

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[baboon]

14 minutes ago, i claudius said:

So that makes it ok to loot and burn shops and set fire to cars in the street ,even if it yours .so speakes the left

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

No, so speaks you.

[DM07]

15 minutes ago, i claudius said:

So that makes it ok to loot and burn shops and set fire to cars in the street ,even if it yours .so speakes the left

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Whereas the Right burns down houses, where asylum- seekers are supposed to stay...empty or fully occupied!

My heart cries for you!

[baboon]

48 minutes ago, Ace of Pop said:

Got nothing to loose ?.What about the Student Loans they rarely pay back ,free health care if a nasty Policeman slaps their bums, cheap accommodation,welfare benefits, cheap travel to their next WHINGIN MEET UP!. Stick the Lefty Swine in Boot Camps.‍


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Just like in the good old days in Germany, eh?

[Ace of Pop]

Whereas the Right burns down houses, where asylum- seekers are supposed to stay...empty or fully occupied!
My heart cries for you!

You can't tell a Financial Refuge from an Asylum Seaker.Were lucky all the Brits n Yanks didn't Pour into Australia during th Depression where things were slightly better back then in Australia.[emoji68]‍[emoji264]


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[manarak]

I'm hoping the arrested scum will have to pay high damages and do some real time in prison, especially those who specially travelled there to make trouble.

Edited July 11, 2017 by manarak

[Ace of Pop]

15 hours ago, baboon said:

Just like in the good old days in Germany, eh?

One Extreme to another now in Europe.

[katana]

7 hours ago, DM07 said:

Yeah...right!

Because 12 burning cars and 3 looted shops resemble Aleppo!

Calm the #@$% down, you $#@&^!

Yeah, happens all the time in Hamburg.

[DM07]

20 minutes ago, katana said:

Yeah, happens all the time in Hamburg.

First of all: Hamburg always had a very active Black Block, so unfortunately it happens more often, than it should!

And secondly: in Hamburg they resolved the problem with a "Hamburg is cleaning up"- day!

Good luck, trying that in Aleppo!

Edited July 11, 2017 by DM07