Frankfurt riots injure more than 100 police, German ministers vow penalties

More than 100 police officers were injured during rioting and looting in Frankfurt overnight, the interior minister of the German state of Hesse said on Sunday, after tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Germany to demand better education and lower living costs.

Roman Poseck told a press conference that rioters damaged 17 stores in the financial hub, five of which were looted, and that police arrested 54 people aged between 13 and 29. About 1,300 officers were deployed, he said. Euronews reported that around 30 people were detained and that several protesters and police officers were hurt, counts lower than those given by Hesse officials.

The protests on Saturday were organised by a campaign group calling itself "Gen Z regelt", or "Gen Z takes charge". Frankfurt police said petrol bombs, rocks and bottles were thrown at emergency services and shop windows were smashed. Video published by Euronews showed burning barricades, looted shops and debris across the city centre, and police using water cannon to put out fires and clear the streets. The situation had calmed by early Sunday after parts of the centre were cordoned off.

"I am shocked by what I have seen, and there is no point in sugar-coating it," Poseck said. "Let me make this very clear: Things cannot go on like this."

Poseck said most of those arrested were German nationals, and that police estimated they were dealing with between 1,000 and 1,500 violent troublemakers, "predominantly from an immigrant background". Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union, said those responsible would be identified and held to account. "I expect there to be severe penalties," he told reporters. He said "troublemakers from the immigrant community" had acted alongside left-wing and far-left groups, without giving evidence or naming the groups.

Hesse state premier Boris Rhein said he was shocked by the events and that those responsible would face consequences, Euronews reported. Violence was also reported in Cologne, where police used water cannon to disperse crowds, and in Berlin, where protesters threw bottles and pyrotechnics at officers.

Dobrindt said border controls had been tightened ahead of the protests out of fear that groups from abroad would join them. CNA reported that protests in France continued largely peacefully for a third weekend, after riots and looting on 17 October damaged shops, public buildings and businesses there.