Anti-capitalist protesters battle police in Frankfurt
By Stephanie Kirchner March 18 BERLIN — Thousands of anti-capitalist protesters besieged Germany’s financial capital of Frankfurt on Wednesday, clashing with police, setting cars on fire and blocking streets in a protest targeting the inauguration of a $1.4 billion headquarters for the European Central Bank.Police deployed water cannons during the demonstration, called by the group Blockupy, an alliance of left-wing movements from across Europe.
The protest organizers consider the European Central Bank a symbol of the austerity policies that they say have hindered state spending in the European Union and ushered in an era of economic stagnation and poverty, particularly in southern nations, [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/anti-austerity-protests-in-greece/2014/03/06/d34318b8-a538-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_gallery.html][color=#0066cc]including Greece.[/color][/url]
In what was thought to be the first phase of a planned day of protests, several police cars were set ablaze and riot police were pelted with rocks.
Frankfurt Police Chief Gerhard Bereswill told local radio that demonstrators wearing gas masks had released irritant gases and liquids into the air, injuring at least 80 officers.
Police said 350 people were detained for “crimes and rioting.”
Blockupy — an outcrop of the [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/occupy-wall-street-protests-go-global/2011/10/15/gIQAp7kimL_story.html][color=#0066cc]Occupy movement[/color][/url] that swept the globe in 2011 — estimated that 10,000 protesters had heeded its call, though no official numbers were immediately available. The group’s main demonstration, fueled by protesters arriving from various countries in Europe, was scheduled for 5 p.m. local time (12 p.m. EDT).
“The [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/european-central-bank-launches-trillion-euro-stimulus/2015/03/09/1e3a7244-c64e-11e4-bea5-b893e7ac3fb3_story.html][color=#0066cc]ECB[/color][/url] is one of the central institutions enforcing the implementation of the catastrophic policy of impoverishment,” Blockupy states on its Web site.
The Frankfurt fire department struggled to extinguish several blazes apparently set by protesters, hindered by blocked-off streets and attacks on fire engines.
“Our firefighters are being attacked. Please stop doing that!” the fire department tweeted.
Police used tear gas to prevent Blockupy protesters from approaching the ECB building. Razor-wire barricades had been erected to block off the surrounding area, but, according to police, individual protesters repeatedly managed to enter the sealed-off area.
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About 100 people were present the brief opening ceremony at the ECB. “We are fully operational,” ECB spokesman Stefan Ruhkamp said. “The required staff is here. Some are working from home.”
But many shops in Frankfurt remained closed. The city shut down at least part of its streetcar network, and it closed one subway route for security.
Asked about the outbreak of violence, Blockupy spokesman Malte Fiedler told the German news Web site Spiegel Online: “We as Blockupy have a consensus that no escalation should come from us and I hope that it will stay this way.”
He accused the police of trying to “push Frankfurt into a civil war scenario” with its strong presence, the use of barbed wire, helicopters and water cannons.
Blockupy has staged several protests in Frankfurt since 2012, targeting the ECB as well as Deutsche Bank, which is also based in the city.
[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/anti-capitalist-protesters-battle-police-in-frankfurt/2015/03/18/d92dd039-be4c-4986-bb55-7237e870205b_story.html]http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/anti-capitalist-protesters-battle-police-in-frankfurt/2015/03/18/d92dd039-be4c-4986-bb55-7237e870205b_story.html[/url]
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