FRANKFURT, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Germany’s interior minister threatened tough penalties for looters and rioters who rampaged through Frankfurt overnight but praised the heavy police presence for preventing larger scale violence.
Hooded rioters looted stores in the city late on Saturday after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of dozens of German cities during the day to demand better education and lower living costs in protests led by the campaign group “Gen Z regelt” — “Gen Z takes charge”.
Frankfurt police reported violent disturbances including windows being smashed and petrol bombs being thrown at the emergency services.
“The rioters and looters will be identified and held accountable,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt was quoted as telling the Bild tabloid on Sunday. “This breach of the peace must be followed by tough penalties.”
He accused “violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from the migrant community” of hijacking the otherwise peaceful protests, without elaborating.
Frankfurt police put more than 30 individuals under temporary arrest, local broadcaster HR said, without giving details of those detained.
The minister said the police strategy of maintaining a large presence while deploying officers across multiple locations had worked.
“Excesses of violence like those in Paris were prevented thanks to our highly committed police forces,” Dobrindt, a member of the conservative CSU, said.
In France, protests continued largely peacefully for a third weekend after extensive riots and looting on October 17 left a trail of damage to shops, public buildings and businesses.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Alison Williams)
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