Police attacked, stores looted during violent clashes in Stuttgart

By Bettina Grachtrup and Taylan Goekalp, dpa
Stuttgart (dpa) – More than a dozen police officers were injured and 20 people detained after street fights in the German city of Stuttgart that broke out early Sunday, a police spokesperson said.

Police said that while they were conducting a search on suspicion of a drug offence, revellers banded together against the officers.

Small groups of people, many wearing masks, started looting stores at Schlossplatz and the neighbouring Koenigstrasse, Stuttgart’s shopping mile, around midnight (2200 GMT).

Police reported several hundred people present.

Paving stones were thrown at officers and shop windows were smashed.

Videos circulating on Twitter showed young men kicking against shop windows or ripping up cobblestones. One showed a hooded man jumping on an officer’s back.

All available emergency forces from the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg were requested, police said. Over 200 officers from the surrounding area were brought in to help bring things back under control.

After several hours, the situation calmed down, the spokesperson said later Sunday, adding that a large contingent of police would remain in the city centre for security reasons.

On recent weekends there had been clashes with the police, but to a smaller extent. The police initially did not comment on whether those behind the recent destruction were involved in the scenes on Sunday.