Germany Vows Penalties After Frankfurt Rioters Injure 100+ Police

German officials vowed tough penalties on Sunday after hooded rioters looted stores and injured more than 100 police officers in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital, following a day of nationwide youth protests over education and living costs, according to Reuters.

Roman Poseck, interior minister of the German state of Hesse, told a Sunday press conference that rioters damaged 17 shops in Frankfurt Saturday night and looted five of them, Reuters reported. Poseck said 1,300 officers were deployed, more than 100 were injured in clashes, and police arrested 54 people between the ages of 13 and 29.

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According to Germany’s public broadcaster Tagesschau, police recorded 87 criminal complaints, checked 366 people and issued 1,225 orders to leave the area. Tagesschau reported that firefighters and rescue workers were also attacked, and that a gun shop was among the stores targeted. Police later recovered blank-firing guns taken from that store, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

One officer was seriously hurt after being struck in the face by a stone and lost teeth, Poseck said, according to FAZ. Frankfurt police also reported windows being smashed and petrol bombs being thrown at emergency services, The Hindu reported, citing Reuters.

Officials point to migrant-background rioters and left-wing groups

Poseck said most of those arrested were German nationals, but that many of those involved were of migrant background, citing police information. “Police currently estimate that they are dealing with between 1,000 and 1,500 violent troublemakers, predominantly from a migrant background,” he said, according to Reuters.

FAZ reported that Poseck described the night as an appalling outburst of violence and called for a tougher line from authorities. He said Hesse would take an offender-focused approach to violent young people from immigrant families, one that also involves the state’s domestic intelligence office, according to FAZ.

German federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the Bild newspaper that “the rioters and looters will be identified and held accountable,” Reuters reported. “This breach of the peace must be followed by tough penalties,” Dobrindt said. He accused “violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from the migrant community” of hijacking otherwise peaceful protests, without elaborating, according to Reuters.

Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union, credited police for preventing worse damage. “Excesses of violence like those in Paris were prevented thanks to our highly committed police forces,” he said, according to Reuters.

Protests began peacefully

The violence followed demonstrations by tens of thousands of people in dozens of German cities on Saturday, organized by a campaign group called “Gen Z regelt,” or “Gen Z takes charge,” which is demanding better education and lower living costs, Reuters reported. Tagesschau reported that the protests were largely peaceful before the Frankfurt city center descended into looting and violence against police late Saturday.

FAZ reported that the unrest was the worst Frankfurt has seen since protests at the opening of the European Central Bank’s headquarters in 2015. Hesse Minister-President Boris Rhein said the violence would not be without consequences, according to Tagesschau, citing the German Press Agency.

Reuters reported that “Gen Z” protests have been spreading across Europe. Poseck said reviewing how the crimes happened and what follows politically would likely take weeks, according to FAZ.

Reporting by Daily Beltway.