A mighty parade targeting the “G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, grew violent on Thursday evening as world leaders, including President Donald Trump, arrived in the city ahead of the Friday’s summit.
The G-20 gathering consists of leaders from the European Union and 19 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Russia and South Africa, who meet annually to talk about international cooperation on financial and economic issues.
Protestors with various agendas lined up in the streets of Hamburg in demonstration organizers named, “G20: Welcome to Hell”.
“Welcome to Hell” was organized by an alliance of anti-capitalists’ groups. The clash followed an hour-long standoff nearby Hamburg’s harbor, where marchers were attempting to move from a public square toward the downtown conference center where Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, is hosting foreign leaders, including President Trump, in a two-day summit that begins Friday.
The German police used forty-five water cannons and pepper spray to disperse protesters in Hamburg after being attacked with firecrackers, bottles, and stones by around 13,000 marchers protesting about the G20 summit.
As police rushed towards the crowd, some of the protesters fled. But a ma s s of activists dressed in dark clothes, with their faces concealed, held their ground.
Protestors chanted and swayed banners during a stand-off that lasted around 40 minutes and after nightfall, flames were seen on the streets.
At least 76 officers were hurt; including one who had a serious eye injury after a firework went off nearby, Hamburg police said.
Later in the evening, around 8,000 protesters regrouped on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg’s red light district and marched in a largely peaceful manner until shortly before midnight.
Police expect about 100,000 protesters in the port city on Saturday too, some 8,000 of whom are deemed by security forces to be ready to commit violence.
For greater and a s sured security, around 20,000 police officers are going to be deployed for the following day.
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