After the anti-G20 demonstration "Welcome to Hell" in Hamburg first started peacefully at the Fischmarkt, it was stopped after about 50 meters. The police drove the roughly 12,000 largely peaceful participants apart. The newspaper TAZ reported, that the police stopped the demonstration with water canons and pepper spray right at the start. Other media reported bottles were thrown and fireworks were ignited. According to the police, there were about 1000 masked demonstrators amongst the crowd. The organizer declared the demonstration ended after about an hour.
But after the demonstration "Welcome to Hell", was stopped, small groups of demonstrators separated from the crowd and continued and the situation escalated. Small groups equipped themselves with pieces of scaffolding and stones, built barricades and ignited them. In the further street battles with the autonomists, the police again deployed water cannons and pepper spray.
All in all about 6,000 demonstrators were still on the streets of Hamburg around midnight, the police said.
According to police data, 74 policemen were injured, three of them had to be treated in the hospital. According to the police, pilots of a police officers sustained eye injuries due to a laserpointer.
The organizers of "Welcome to Hell" accused the police of a disproportionate reaction and intended to finish it early from the start.
extended article in German
