GETTY Hamburg g20 protests what is Antifa demonstrations protestors Welcome to Hell

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At least 213 police officers were injured during clashes with masked anarchist rioters on the streets of Hamburg, Germany, this week. Since the protests broke out, 144 people have been arrested and 144 are in custody, a police officer said. Thousands of protesters clad in black chanted anti-capitalist slogans as they pelted police officers with glass bottles and set cars on fire. Wolfgang Bosbach of the ruling CDU party, likened the scenes in Hamburg to "civil-war like conditions”, saying the “activists” were given free reign for criminal activities. His views were mirrored by Andreas Scheuer, General Secretary of the CSU party, who blasted the "leftists anarchists" and "offenders”. "The left mob has to be broken up, it has to have consequences," he said at a press conference in Viechtach.

What is Antifa? The Anti-fascist Action movement, commonly known as Antifa, is a far-left and largely loose collective of extreme anarchists and socialists who see violence as a legitimate form of activism. Antifa supporters are often found at political demonstrations and rallies, where they demonstrate their opposition to capitalism and the far-right. They are characteristically clad in black and red. But it is unclear how many of the Hamburg protesters are linked to Antifa and how many are associated with other anarchist groups. Police were worried of a third day of violence when some 40,000 people gathered under the banner of the anti-globalisation ATTAC movement on Saturday.

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GETTY G20 protests swept through the city of Hamburg this week

ATTAC coordinator Thomas Eberhardt-Koester told Reuters that the movement wants to "bring criticism of the G20 and alternatives for fair global policies onto the streets". The most violent elements of the numerous protests across Hamburg were found in the ‘Welcome to Hell’ protest which kicked off on Thursday.

We wish the demo as a militant joint prelude to the days of resistance Welcome To Hell demonstration organisers

‘Welcome to Hell’ organiser Andreas Blechschmidt said the rally's motto is "a combative message... but it's also meant to symbolise that G20 policies worldwide are responsible for hellish conditions like hunger, war and the climate disaster". Hamburg Police said that a 1,000 strong “black-bloc” of rioters refused to remove their masks and used glass bottles and rocks to clash with the officers. Video footage caught in the centre of the chaos saw the masked agitators setting up roadblocks of rubbish bins and burning debris, to halt the progress of police vans.

G20 summit: Second day of violence as protestors clash with riot police Sat, July 8, 2017 Riot police have been involved in running battles with protestors in Hamburg as demonstrations at the G20 summit turned violent for the second night in a row Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 21 Barricades burn as protesters clash with riot police during the protests at the G20 summit

High-pressure water cannons and tear gas were deployed by riot police to separate the violent groups. The police expected around 100,000 in total to demonstrate across the city, and security forces were ready to deal with as many as 8,000 violent rioters. Germany’s Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maiziere, decried the acts of violence and called the protestors “criminals”. "The brutality with which extremely violent chaos has taken place yesterday and before yesterday in Hamburg is incomprehensible and outrageous," he told Die Welt newspaper. "These are not protesters, they are criminals."

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GETTY Riot police in Hamburg were forced to use tear gas and water cannons