Hamburg G20: German Police Use Water Cannons against Protesters

Local Editor

German riot police used water cannons to disperse a large crowd of protesters rallying in Hamburg against the upcoming G20 summit.

In this respect, footage shared on social media showed dozens of police officers in full riot gear descending on the activists. Behind the police, lines of water cannons were used against the protesters.

As thousands of protesters converged on Hamburg to protest the G20 leaders' summit, city authorities introduced unprecedented security measures. Security forces expected around 8,000 potentially violent protesters, according to Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

In recent days, authorities were cracking down on numerous protest camps that have mushroomed across the city.

Police also seized a large assortment of homemade weapons that anti-capitalist demonstrators have allegedly planned to use to disrupt the summit.

On Tuesday evening, police cleared tents at one of the parks in the Altona district of the city, setting up a more than one kilometer road block cordon from the Walter-Möller-Park, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports. To clear the camp, authorities reportedly used pepper spray.

Tuesday night's discharge of water cannons happened in the Neuer Pferdemarkt area, where thousands of activists have been rallying throughout the day.

More than 100,000 people are expected to take part in dozens of various demonstrators in Hamburg on Friday and Saturday.

At least 15,000 police officers from all of Germany's federal states are being deployed to ensure public security at the G20 summit.

"We have every German special unit available to the summit," Hamburg's police president Ralf Meyer said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Federal Criminal Police Office, [Bundeskriminalamt, BKA], is responsible for protecting the visiting leaders. Other specialized units, such as the SEK, MEK, GSG9, and the BFE in addition to a dedicated anti-terrorist division will provide security for the summit, Bild reported.

Demonstrators had been given until the start of the week to clear out and dismantle their protest camps around the city. Most protesters refused prompting police to move in.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team