There were riots at the May 1 revolutionary demonstration in Stuttgart. Now the police and protesters blame each other.
Riots in Stuttgart: Left-wing protesters encounter police Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
STUTTGART taz | While May 1 this year passed largely peacefully in Berlin and other cities, riots broke out in Stuttgart on Wednesday afternoon, during which 167 people were temporarily detained. According to police information, a total of 25 emergency services and three police horses were injured during the May 1 revolutionary demonstration. “Only the brief use of pepper spray and batons, as well as the use of horses and police dogs, brought the situation back under control,” he continues.
Emergency services eventually surrounded the violent group of people. The other 400 participants in the meeting showed solidarity and harassed the police. “Since the meeting management and participants did not cooperate at all, the meeting authority dissolved the meeting.”
It is not yet known how many protesters were injured. According to reports from the Stuttgart newspaper Three protesters who tried to evade identification measures by putting their fingertips together were also arrested.
The organizers contradict the police story. Kim Northeim, spokesperson for the Alliance for the “May 1 Revolutionary Rally,” said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon: “The police claims are baseless and serve the sole purpose of retrospectively justifying the “Violent attack on the demonstration.” it is celebrated as a success on the Stuttgart Revolutionary Action website.
Swabian tradition of violence
In recent years, the Swabian metropolis has repeatedly made headlines with riots. In the summer of 2020, serious riots and looting by young people occurred in the center of Stuttgart, in which several officers were injured. The Ministry of the Interior then analyzed the incidents in detail.
Also in the Antifa scene in Stuttgart there is a high level of violence, as demonstrated by the trial of two members of the scene in 2021. The two young men were sentenced to long prison terms because they attacked and seriously injured two members of a pseudo-union of extreme right of a group on the margins of a demonstration of lateral thinkers.
The Stuttgart cauldron finally had a fairly peaceful end on Wednesday. A spontaneous demonstration against the police operation could be held on Königstrasse, which was largely non-violent.