Riot police used water cannons and pepper spray on protesters in Hamburg yesterday ahead of the G20 Summit. Photo / AP
Riot police used water cannons and pepper spray on protesters in Hamburg yesterday ahead of the G20 Summit. Photo / AP
By Isaac Stanley-Becker
Authorities are prepared for clashes as protesters vow to make their mark on the G20 Summit, writes Isaac Stanley-Becker.
Hamburg was braced for a weekend of violence after German security forces clad in riot gear clashed with protesters on the eve of the Group of 20 summit.
Protesters threw objects at riot police who used water cannons and pepper spray to clear an anti-capitalist march in which a militant group with anarchist sympathies had a prominent presence.
The skirmish followed an hour-long standoff near Hamburg's harbour, where protesters were trying to move from a public square toward the downtown conference centre where Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is hosting foreign leaders, including President Donald Trump, for the two-day summit that began last night.
When police attempted to separate a group of "black bloc" activists from the roughly 12,000 people who had assembled to protest inequality and economic greed, authorities met a hail of rocks and bottles. As police rushed the group, some of the protesters fled. But a phalanx of activists dressed in dark clothes, with their faces concealed, held their ground. They carried signs that condemned the state and declared, "Welcome to hell". Armoured vehicles spewing powerful volleys of water rolled toward the protesters. Smoke bombs detonated in the crowd.
Police made some arrests and said 15 officers were injured, two of whom were hospitalised.
Police expressed concern that violence could escalate.
The street marches planned for the summit - emulating the forceful dissent seen at past G20 gatherings - cover a range of issues, including calls for environmental protection, denunciations of ethnic nationalism and opposition to free trade.
But the Hamburg protests have gained added momentum as a stand against Trump and his brand of "America First" populism. An estimated 100,000 protesters were expected to converge on the old merchant city during the summit.
Meanwhile, 20,000 officers were being deployed at about 30 registered demonstrations, in the largest police operation in Hamburg's history. Forty-five water cannons were available to disperse crowds. A no-fly zone was in place over portions of the city.
A woman is pulled by police after being pepper-sprayed. She climbed an armored police vehicle on the first day of the G-20 summit in Hamburg. Photo / AP
"No demonstrator can decide whether or where heads of state and government meet in Germany on the chancellor's invitation," said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
Officials had raised fears that yesterday's protests could turn violent. But the gathering at first resembled an open-air concert, with bands from around the world performing.
People shared potato stew and passed around art materials for posters. One sign announced support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Sebastian Keller, 35, said he wanted to highlight how politicians serve only economic interests, not average people.
"I'm not anti-government, but something has to change so human beings get to enjoy a little bit of the wealth," said Keller, who grew up in East Germany and was 8 years old when the country was reunified. "Ever since," he said, "Germany has become obsessed with capitalism." The protests draw on a tradition of left-wing activism in Germany's second-largest city and the birthplace of its chancellor, who is hosting world leaders at a downtown conference centre and the lofty Elbphilharmonie concert hall, a crown jewel of the city. A few kilometres away is a nerve centre of left-wing German radicalism, Rote Flora, a former theatre where activists have squatted for nearly three decades.
A spokesman for Rote Flora, Andreas Blechschmidt, who registered yesterday's demonstration, promised self-defence "if the police attack us". He added: "Violence can be a productive form of protest."
Police use a water canon while demonstrators block a street during protests against the G-20 summit in Hamburg. Photo / AP
Protests were expected to continue today and tomorrow, stoked by the presence of divisive foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan's presence pits Turkish nationalists against Kurds in a country with the largest Turkish community outside Turkey. The German Government has barred Erdogan from addressing his supporters at the summit.
