By Sarah Lafen

Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany — In what authorities are calling the most violent protest in Berlin in over five years, 3,500 leftist protestors marched Saturday through Friedrichshain to oppose the gentrification of a district in the eastern part of the city.  Over the past decade, investment money has flowed into the German capital, making its way to previously run-down neighborhoods of Berlin.  This surge has increased rents in neighborhoods formerly home to artists and squatters.

The protest began peacefully, and police used a helicopter to monitor the crowd.  The scene quickly turned violent as missiles, cobblestones, firecrackers, flares, and glass bottles were eventually thrown at the police officers.  123 of the 1,800 officers on scene were injured, and 86 protestors were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, causing injury, and illegal use of explosives.  Police used tear gas, pepper spray, and billy clubs to break up the riot.  Residents who live in housing collectives in the neighborhood banged spoons on pots and pans in support of the leftist squatters.

Since June, there have been movements to evict squatters on the land in furtherance of efforts to gentrify neighborhoods that have been home to the squatters for decades.  The eviction of a house called “Rige Street 94” (R94) occupied by squatters in Friedrichshain on June 22 sparked the onset of aggressive demonstrations, the smashing of shop windows, and the burning of dozens of cars in opposition to the gentrification movement.

These leftist activists protest the invasion of what they call “yuppies” and “big shots” into the area of Berlin which they currently occupy.  Various leftist websites have supported the anti-gentrification movement, encouraging their followers to cause as much disruption as possible to voice their opposition to the gentrification.

Frank Henkel, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, categorized the riots as “arbitrary terror” and stated that his political party will not allow “lawless areas” to exist in any part of Berlin, including R94.

For more information, please see:

BBC — Berlin Riot : 123 Police Injured in Anti-Gentrification Protest — 10 July 2016

NY Times — Berlin Protests in Support of Squatters Turn Violent — 10 July 2016

Wall Street Journal — Berlin Leftist Rioting Leaves 120 Police Officers Injured — 10 July 2016

Breitbart — Berlin Rocked by Nightly Riots from Left-Wing Extremists — 5 July 2016