Violence erupted in several German cities on Saturday as Gen Zs took to the streets to protest a myriad of issues, including rising living costs and underfunding of schools.
The protests, organised by Gen Z regelt — loosely translated
as “Gen Zs got this” — took place in more than 30 cities, with thousands taking
part.
The young Germans are also opposing public spending cuts and
the potential return of compulsory military service.
The protests, which were largely peaceful by day, assumed a
violent dimension at night, with police forced to fire water cannons and pepper
spray in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne and Leipzig.
Masked rioters smashed shop windows and looted stores in
Frankfurt, hurling Molotov cocktails, fireworks and stones at police.
Several police officers were injured in a clash with a group
of protesters in Frankfurt.
“We assume there were about 100 attackers motivated by
extreme leftist ideology,” Roman Poseck, the state interior minister, said.
Frankfurt police reportedly took around 30 people into
custody following the violent protests.
In Hamburg, protesters fired pyrotechnics at police and set
barricades on fire, with the officers responding with water cannons and tear
gas to disperse the crowds.
Rioters also smashed shop windows and set rubbish bins on
fire.
Lina Friedrich, spokesperson for Gen Z regelt, said the
demonstrations were “to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and
coercion”.
“What matters most to us is better support for the health
and education systems. We are against compulsory military service, and we are
in favour of a fairer distribution of the burden,” Friedrich said.
The violent demonstrations in Germany come in the wake of
similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people took
part in a third consecutive weekend of protests.
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