Germany blames infiltrators as Gen Z protests turn violent

Jonas Walzberg/Reuters

Cost-of-living protests in Germany turned violent on Saturday evening with police using water cannons to disperse crowds and masked rioters smashed shop windows, as officials warn the day of rallies organized by a youth-led movement was infiltrated by extremist factions.

Saturday’s action across Germany, organized by the ‘Gen Z has got this!’ movement, railed against the high cost of living, underfunding in education, environmental concerns and a potential reintroduction of mandatory military service . It follows a wave of similar protests which have swept Europe, including significant unrest in France, which saw a third straight weekend of rallies.

Despite organizers calling for the protests to remain peaceful, violence broke out in some German cities, most notably in Frankfurt and Cologne. Police used water cannons while masked protesters smashed shop windows.

Speaking to German tabloid Bild, Germany’s interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt said that “violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from migrant communities” hijacked the peaceful protests, without elaborating further.

The interior minister for the state of Hesse, which includes Frankfurt, warned that “around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists” infiltrated the city’s protest as the evening descended into violence and looting.

“It is shameful how this event here in Frankfurt has ended,” Roman Poseck said.

Florian Wiegand/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Poseck said he was determined the violence that has rocked France would not be replicated in Germany.

“We all have those images from France in our minds — looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers,” he said, according to Reuters. “France must not be held up as a model in this regard.”

In Frankfurt, police said Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows were smashed. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after windows were broken at a gun shop. According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, several people broke into shops in downtown Frankfurt and over 30 people had been temporarily detained in city by the late evening.

Police in Cologne said water cannons were used after some protesters set off fireworks during a march in the city center. “Our measures are directed against troublemakers and violent individuals – not against peaceful participants,” the police said in a statement.

In Hamburg, riot police responded after barriers were set on fire and emergency service workers were attacked. “There has been an increase in incidents of emergency personnel being pelted with pyrotechnics and construction (materials) … our riot police are taking immediate action against this,” the police said.

Berlin police wrote on X that 27 officers in the German capital had sustained minor injuries and just under 60 people had been detained for offenses including property damage, assault, and resistance against emergency forces.

The movement’s organizers have sought to distance themselves from the ensuing violence. “We had no influence on what happened after the demonstrations ended,” a spokesperson from their press team was quoted by Der Spiegel as saying.

Andreas Arnold/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

Organizers of ‘Gen Z has got this!’ planned the day of action to coincide with Halloween, to maximize turnout and visibility. According to the organization, 120,000 people attended the protests across Germany on Saturday.

“We are young people who no longer want to watch decisions being made about our future without us,” the movement states on its website.

Speaking for his reasons for joining the movement, an 18-year-old student protester in Munich told Reuters, “The government has offered no response to our concerns other than to continue making cuts and piling further burdens upon us.” In the eastern city of Dresden, demonstrators held placards reading, “The rich want war, the youth want a future!” and “You’ve screwed up – Gen Z will sort it out.”

More nationwide protests from the Yellow Vests movement took place in France on Saturday, in what was billed as the third act of demonstrations, following earlier protests on October 17 and 24.

This time, however, they were more scaled down than before. The French Interior Ministry said 320,000 people protested across the country on Saturday, with 70,000 turning up in Paris; a significantly smaller number than the 550,000 who demonstrated on October 17 and the 410,000 who showed up last week.

Romain Laurendeau/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images

The French protests were mostly peaceful, except for a few incidents. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “radical elements at the tail end of the processions” in several cities. including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Marseille, and Lyon, “attempted to enter city centers with the intent to cause damage and engage in looting.”

Protests over soaring housing costs also swept Portugal and Italy on Saturday. In the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, thousands marched to demand Portugal’s center-right government withdraw a rental bill they say will worsen the country’s housing crisis.

In Italy, protests largely led by student groups and workers rallied against inflation, stagnant wages and unaffordable housing in cities including Turin, Bologna and Milan.

CNN’s Pierre P Bairin contributed reporting.

乔纳斯·沃尔兹伯格/路透社

周六晚间，德国爆发的生活成本抗议活动演变为暴力事件，警方动用水炮驱散人群，蒙面暴徒砸碎商店橱窗。官员警告称，这场由青年领导的运动组织的集会已被极端主义派别渗透。

周六，由“Z世代能行！”运动组织的德国各地抗议活动，强烈抨击了高昂的生活成本、教育经费不足、环境问题以及可能恢复的强制兵役制度。此前，类似的抗议浪潮席卷了欧洲，其中包括法国的严重骚乱，法国连续第三个周末爆发了集会。

尽管组织者呼吁抗议活动保持和平，但德国一些城市仍爆发了暴力事件，其中法兰克福和科隆最为显著。警方动用了水炮，而蒙面抗议者则砸碎了商店橱窗。

德国内政部长亚历山大·多布林特在接受德国小报《图片报》采访时表示，“暴力左翼团体和来自移民社区的捣乱分子”劫持了和平抗议活动，但他没有进一步详细说明。

黑森州（包括法兰克福）内政部长警告说，“大约 100 名身份明确的左翼极端分子”渗透到该市的抗议活动中，当晚的抗议活动演变成暴力和抢劫。

“法兰克福的这场活动以这样的方式结束，实在令人羞耻，”罗曼·波塞克说道。

Florian Wiegand/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

Kai Pfaffenbach/路透社

波塞克表示，他决心不让震撼法国的暴力事件在德国重演。

据路透社报道，他说：“我们脑海中都浮现出法国的那些画面——抢劫、焚烧房屋、焚烧警车以及袭击警察。法国绝不能成为这方面的榜样。”

在法兰克福，警方称有人向急救人员投掷燃烧弹，并砸碎了商店橱窗。一家枪支商店的橱窗被砸后，警方逮捕了一名嫌疑人，并缴获了两件武器。据德国《明镜周刊》报道，多人闯入法兰克福市中心的商店，截至傍晚，已有超过30人在市内被临时拘留。

科隆警方表示，一些示威者在市中心游行期间燃放烟花后，警方动用了水炮。“我们的措施针对的是滋事者和暴力分子，而不是和平示威者，”警方在一份声明中表示。

在汉堡，防暴警察在路障被纵火焚烧、紧急救援人员遭到袭击后做出反应。“紧急救援人员被烟火和建筑材料袭击的事件有所增加……我们的防暴警察正在立即采取行动应对，”警方表示。

柏林警方在 X 上发文称，德国首都有 27 名警员受轻伤，近 60 人因财产损失、袭击和拒捕等罪行被拘留。

该运动的组织者试图与随后发生的暴力事件撇清关系。据《明镜周刊》报道，他们的一位新闻发言人表示：“我们对示威活动结束后发生的事情没有任何影响。”

Andreas Arnold/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

“Z世代，我行！”活动的组织者特意将行动日安排在万圣节当天，以最大限度地提高参与人数和影响力。据该组织称，周六德国各地共有12万人参加了抗议活动。

“我们是年轻人，我们再也不想眼睁睁地看着关乎我们未来的决定被抛诸脑后，”该运动在其网站上声明。

一位18岁的慕尼黑学生抗议者在接受路透社采访时谈到自己加入这场运动的原因：“政府除了继续削减开支、加重我们的负担之外，对我们的诉求没有任何回应。”在东部城市德累斯顿，示威者举着标语，上面写着：“富人想要战争，年轻人想要未来！”以及“你们搞砸了——Z世代会解决一切！”

周六，法国爆发了更多由“黄背心”运动发起的全国性抗议活动，这被认为是继 10 月 17 日和 24 日的抗议活动之后的第三次示威活动。

然而，这一次的抗议规模比以往要小得多。法国国内事务部表示，周六全国各地共有32万人参加了抗议活动，其中7万人聚集在巴黎；这一数字远低于10月17日的55万人和上周的41万人。

罗曼·劳伦多/汉斯·卢卡斯/法新社/盖蒂图片社

除少数事件外，法国的抗议活动总体上是和平的。内政部在一份声明中表示，在包括波尔多、图卢兹、雷恩、里尔、南特、马赛和里昂在内的几个城市，“游行队伍末尾的激进分子”“试图进入市中心，意图造成破坏和抢劫”。

周六，葡萄牙和意大利也爆发了抗议房价飙升的示威活动。在葡萄牙首都里斯本，数千人游行示威，要求葡萄牙中右翼政府撤回一项他们认为会加剧该国住房危机的租金法案。

在意大利，主要由学生团体和工人领导的抗议活动在都灵、博洛尼亚和米兰等城市举行，抗议通货膨胀、工资停滞不前和住房负担不起的问题。

CNN的皮埃尔·P·拜林对此报道亦有贡献。