Chaotic Riot Erupts in Berlin on Walpurgis Night: Pyrotechnics, Bottles, and Stones Thrown at Police Officers

Berlin – Rampage demo on Walpurgis Night: chaotic people threw pyrotechnics, bottles and stones at police officers in Berlin on Sunday evening!

The riot began at Mariannenplatz in Kreuzberg with a demonstration by women entitled “Take Back the Night”.

According to initial information from the police, there were around 2,000 participants. Men were expressly excluded from the demo, only so-called “FLINTA” were allowed. The term stands for women, lesbians, trans people and people who do not feel they belong to any gender.

The demo started around 9 p.m. Just 20 minutes later, the police reported that demonstrators had thrown firecrackers and bottles at the officers. Police said it was not yet clear if anyone was injured.

A stone was also thrown at the police. Officers arrested at least one woman.

The participants yelled anti-police slogans, set off firecrackers and burned Bengali fire – including from the roof of the Bethanien building, a left-wing cultural center in Kreuzberg.

The police twice stopped the demonstration and asked the participants to remain peaceful. In some cases, the police took umbrellas from demonstrators who used them as privacy screens. In the call to the demonstration, all participants were asked to bring umbrellas.

At around 11:20 p.m., the police had to end the demonstration 40 minutes earlier than planned. Officials caused the participants to disperse.

At the same time, the police in the Viktoriapark in Kreuzberg ended “an unauthorized concert by a rapper,” as they announced on Twitter.

In the evening, the police also kept an eye on the parks, where many people had gathered because of the good weather. “Our helicopter is now getting an overview of the situation in the well-frequented parks in northern Berlin,” said the police.

The police wanted to determine where a particularly large number of people gather, because in previous years there had always been smaller riots.

It was very crowded into the evening, for example in the Mauerpark, in the Gleisdreieckpark and in Treptower Park, where smaller parties were celebrated on the meadows.

A total of up to 3,400 police officers were on duty on Sunday. Support came from Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Thuringia, Schleswig-Holstein and from the federal police. The Lower Saxony even sent a police helicopter to Berlin.

In the afternoon, the mood among the Berlin police was still relaxed enough to rhyme in one of their Walpurgis Night tweets:

The riot potential in the capital is high. Again and again there are riots and riots on May 1st. They are feared again this year. 6300 police officers will be on duty on Monday.

► Above all, the “Revolutionary May Day demonstration” on Monday afternoon causes tension among the police and local residents every year. Up to 2500 people will therefore join the “Anarcho Block”, also known as the “Black Block”. The police classified 500 of them as “militant” and “violent seekers”.

Already in the night to Saturday a left-wing mob rampaged through Berlin-Mitte, targeting dozens of vehicles and shops.

While there were already riots in Berlin, it was quiet in Hamburg on Sunday night. The Hanseatic city is known for its left-wing scene, but so far only small groups have been demonstrating there.