Cost-of-Living Protest in Germany Turns to Violence and Looting Late at Night, Clashes in Frankfurt and Three Other Cities

A protest against the rising cost of living in Frankfurt, Germany, turned violent, with one group looting various shops there. Protesters took to the streets on Saturday night (31 October). Their movement was almost entirely peaceful.

However, towards the end of the night, it turned into violence and looting. Apart from the commercial hub of Frankfurt, violence also took place in the capital Berlin, in Cologne and in Hamburg.

In those cities, police used water cannon to disperse the protesters. The protesters threw fireworks, stones and bottles at emergency service workers, it was reported.

The protest on Saturday night in Germany was called under the campaign 'control to Gen Z' (rendered in the source as a Gen-Z control campaign). The protesters were demonstrating against inadequate funding for educational institutions, the excessive cost of living, cuts to government benefits, and serving in the military.

Meanwhile, when the looting began in Frankfurt, police closed the streets where the shops are located. Police also said several people were detained while attempting to loot.

Among them, some looters attacked a weapons shop. Police later detained one person with two weapons.

Lina Friedrich, spokesperson for the group that called the protest in Germany, said their protest was a 'fight for peace and freedom over war and coercion'.

She said: 'The most important issue for us is more government funding for the health and education sectors. We oppose compulsory joining of the army. We are in favour of a fairer distribution.'

Before Germany, such looting incidents took place in France over the past two weeks. Protests also took place in France on Saturday night. Around 350,000 people took part in them. However, no fresh untoward incident took place there.