Youth protest rallies in Germany turned into riots

Protest rallies held in German cities, including Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg, which were initially peaceful, turned into violent clashes at night. The organizer of the rallies was the youth movement Gen Z regelt. Demonstrators were protesting against the rising cost of living, the deterioration of public services, the lack of funding for education and healthcare, and mandatory military service. 1TV+6

In Frankfurt, participants in the unrest smashed shop windows and looted commercial facilities. According to the police, demonstrators threw stones, bottles, pyrotechnics, and "Molotov cocktails" at law enforcement officers and emergency service representatives. According to the Minister of Internal Affairs of the state of Hesse, Roman Poseck, about 100 left-wing extremists mixed into the peaceful rally, who caused the unrest. 1TV+6

Law enforcement officers used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. In Hamburg, some of the protesters set fire to barricades. According to data from the Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin police, about 18,000 people participated in the rallies, which is half the number announced by the organizers. The German government stated that the rallies were mainly peaceful, but warned the public about the attempts of extremist groups to take advantage of this youth movement. 1TV+6