Activists of the anti-globalist Blockupy movement scuffled with dozens of riot police who charged into a marching crowd to disperse protesters, reports RT’s Peter Oliver. The march has been reportedly stopped.
What was supposed to be a march through the middle of German’s
financial capital by anti-austerity demonstrators really lasted
only about 500 meters, when several hundred riot police in full
kit came among the crowd.
The protesters started throwing paint-filled objects at the
police so puddles of paint are here and there, RT’s Peter Oliver
reported. Later the paint filled bags were confiscated by police.
The organizers maintain there are tens of thousands of protesters
and Peter Oliver witnesses a whole column of protesters going
around the ECB headquarters.
The police force has split into two groups now. They do not let
anybody through so the demonstration is not moving anywhere, as
police and protesters are locked in a stand-off.
Water cannons arrived at the scene of a peaceful protest, Oliver
reports.
Watch video of RT correspondent Peter Oliver live from the scene.
Video:
/files/news/1f/47/00/00/original_english_international_2013-06-01_17_00_42.asf
Riot police officers have already used pepper spray several times
and some people have been taken away, but it is not clear if they
have been arrested.
RT’s crew working at the scene has been separated by the riot
police dividing demonstrators. The crew reports the use of fences
and barbed wire by police.
Protests in Frankfurt-am-Main started on Friday when some 3,000
‘Blockupy’ protesters, clutching signs demanding “humanity
before profit”, blocked the main entrance of the ECB, the
organizers announced that the coalition has “reached its first
goal” of the day.
The anti-globalism march was called to celebrate the anniversary
of the ‘Occupy’ rallies by blocking the European Central
Bank.
The protesters moved to city’s downtown from activists’ camp in
the Frankfurt suburbs, set up earlier.
Police reported that though some protesters thrown stones and
there were some clashes at the barricades, all in all the Friday
protests were conducted peacefully.
The ECB, which has headquarters at Kaiserstrasse 29, in
Frankfurt-am-Main, has promised to remain operational during the
planned demonstrations.
Blockupy activists lay blame for the debt crisis in Europe with
the banks and in particular the ECB for its role in imposing
austerity measures on EU citizens.
The austerity measures proposed by the so-called troika,
consisting of the ECB, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
European Commission have not reduced the national debts of the
European countries. An increase of taxes and cuts of governmental
social programs they promote have actually worsened the
situation, deepening recession and increasing unemployment in the
EU dramatically.
Hanno Bruchmann, an anti-austerity activist, believes that
“There have been many capitalist crises before, but now it is
happening in the US and Europe, the financial crisis has
transformed into a debt crisis, and now is the moment in which
this has become a permanent capitalist crisis on a big
scale.”
A demonstration in German’s Frankfurt-am-Main is expected to
gather up to 20,000 protesters. Several European capitals are set
to see large rallies later in the day.
This article originally appeared on: RT