- G20: Welcome to Hell protest turns violent
- Police fire water cannon and pepper spray at protesters
- March called off after clashes
- Dozens of police injured as riots continue into night
- Donald Trump is in Hamburg ahead of G20 meeting
Police were fighting running battles with anticapitalists in the streets of Hamburg on Thursday night as protests against the G20 summit turned violent
Masked protesters hurled smoke bombs and glass bottles at police who responded with water cannon.
Police said they were “horrified by the violence”.
There were scenes of confusion in the nightlife district of Saint Pauli as the black clad masked protesters choked the narrow alley while nervous drinkers looked on from pubs.
Hundreds of armoured riot police ran through the streets.
Police said the violence had broken out after they asked a hardcore of protesters to remove their masks.
The protesters planned to march to the city centre where the summit begins tomorrow.
Police said they could not continue unless they removed the masks.
There was a tense standoff for around half an hour while negotiations continued before the first smoke bombs were thrown.
The ‘Welcome To Hell’ protest was officially cancelled on Thursday night amid the violence, but a hardcore continued in defiance of the order.
World leaders including President Donald Trump are in Hamburg for the start of the summit tomorrow.
At least 76 police hurt in clashes
At least 76 police officers have been hurt in clashes with anti-G20 protesters, authorities said.
“Police are still being attacked,” said a spokesman for Hamburg’s police force, adding that most of the officers hurt sustained light injuries.
Violent protests continue into the night
Several injuries reports as renewed demonstration underway
Seven police officers were injured in the clashes with protesters, according to official accounts.
There were also many injured among the protesters, including several with severe injuries from police batons, according to Andreas Blechschmidt, one of the organisers of the march.
There are unconfirmed reports one of the protesters suffered life-threatening injuries.
A renewed demonstration was underway as Theresa May arrived in Hamburg ahead of the summit around 10pm (9pm BST).
Timo Zill, a police officer, told journalists how he and a colleague had been attacked on the street by protesters and had to take refuge in an ambulance.
Drivers were reportedly trapped inside their cars for up to six hours by road blocks while police battled demonstrators.
Burning vehicles on the streets of Hamburg
At least one person seriously injured
At least one protester appeared to have been seriously injured in the violence and was carried away covered in a foil blanket, the BBC reported.
Footage of black-clad protesters apparently making a barricade
LIVE: See footage from the #G20 protests in Hamburg. https://t.co/HdpQquHqrVpic.twitter.com/ASCYqaHhHj
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 6, 2017
Scene tense as police move in
Police helicopters were circling overhead the tense scene on a street running alongside the Elbe river harbour with its container cranes, and near mural-covered former squats that saw heavy clashes with police in the 1980s, AFP reports.
Protesters were seen scrambling to leave the scene, some changing out of their all-black gear, as police announced that the organisers have called off the march following the clashes.
Police ‘demanded protesters remove their masks’
Police say they repeatedly asked a group of hardcore anti-capitalist demonstrators to remove their masks Thursday evening, to no avail. They then decided to separate the group from the rest of the several thousand-strong demonstration.
Black-hooded protesters attacked a police vehicle with bottles and bricks, breaking its window.
The violence broke out near the start of the demonstration at a riverside plaza used for Hamburg’s weekly fish market.
Protest march cancelled
“The march was just declared off by organisers,” Hamburg police said on Twitter after the march quickly descended into clashes.
Riot police moving in with water cannon
“G-20: Welcome to Hell”
The protest was called “G-20: Welcome to Hell” by organisers.
There was a heavy police presence in the area as authorities had been expecting possible violence.
20,000 officers are on hand to patrol the northern German city’s streets, skies and waterways.
