This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Violent Clashes Break Out Next To New ECB Headquarters In Frankfurt As Thousands Protest Austerity: Live Webcast
It's not just Greece which is protesting the utter lack of reforms enabled by the ECB known as "austerity" - as of today so is Germany itself with the so-called #Blockupy movement. According to local media reports, the start of anti-austerity rallies in Frankfurt coincided with the European Central Bank opening its new headquarters, whose occupants are now besieged by tens of thousands of protesters, so perhaps #OccupyQ€ would have been more appropriate. Police said they expect around 10,000 anti-capitalist protesters, marching under the banner of leftist alliance Blockupy, to attend the rally, with a march through the city planned for later in the evening. The result is what according to a police spokesman "is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city."
As the photos below shows, several police cars have been set on fire, with windows being smashed and demonstrators throwing stones at police ahead of the massive demonstration on Wednesday, and as riots break out across Frankfurt even as thousands of police respond with water cannon, pepper spray and mass arrests.
Anarchist BBQ in Frankfurt celebrating opening of European Central Bank HQ #Blockupy pic.twitter.com/WtKX6MEEYa
— Kingslayer (@squig_) March 18, 2015
1.Polizeirevier in #Frankfurt / #EZB #18m #Blockupy #18nulldrei pic.twitter.com/enDKoLBFBd
— Polizei Frankfurt (@Polizei_Ffm) March 18, 2015
Zusammenstoss. Pfefferspray. Hanauer ecke uhland. #Blockupy #ezb #18M pic.twitter.com/ovHRc9zGnV
— Journal Frankfurt (@journalffm) March 18, 2015
Ausschreitungen machten den Wasserwerfereinsatz erforderlich . #18nulldrei #18M #Frankfurt pic.twitter.com/AeaHvdoLhL
— Polizei Frankfurt (@Polizei_Ffm) March 18, 2015
Wasserwerfer bei Löscharbeiten an der Flößerbrücke #18M #18nulldrei #Frankfurt pic.twitter.com/fvh9WlUG8v
— Polizei Frankfurt (@Polizei_Ffm) March 18, 2015
Einige DemoTeilnehmer jetzt allerdings in der #Distanzzone #EZB : Bitte geht wieder raus #blockupy #18M #18nulldrei pic.twitter.com/kebuoMpO9R
— Polizei Frankfurt (@Polizei_Ffm) March 18, 2015
(0702) Löscharbeiten am Ernst-Achilles-Platz. #Blockupy pic.twitter.com/O1QALpzkdj
— Hanning Voigts (@hanvoi) March 18, 2015
Bunter Protest in der Uhlandstraße?
#18M #18nulldrei #18null3 #blockupy pic.twitter.com/lzik4aCTZd
— Polizei Frankfurt (@Polizei_Ffm) March 18, 2015
Authorities say at least one officer has been injured by a stone hurled by an activist, near the city's opera house.
Organizers have accused the police of sparking the violence, saying they set up a "civil war type scenario" to provoke demonstrators. "This is not what Blockupy planned," spokesman Hendrik Wester told German news agency DPA.
Video footage has shown riot police running through the city, with at least one protester being dragged away.
Chairman of the German police union (GdP), Oliver Malchow, says the violence has gone far enough.
"We're talking about serious crimes here," he told broadcaster n-tv.
"The term 'protest' doesn't fit in this case," he said.
Activists are targeting the European Central Bank (ECB) as a symbol of capitalism, as well as over its part in restrictive austerity measures in financially-troubled countries such as Greece.
Meanwhile, around 100 guests, including ECB President Mario Draghi, are expected to attend the opening of the ECB's new headquarters.
Authorities had erected a security zone around the 185-meter skyscraper, putting up barricades and barbed wire in preparation for the protest action.
A spokeswoman told news agency AFP "it is one of the biggest deployments ever in the city," saying they expected the majority of demonstrators to be peaceful.
ECB headquarters moving to Frankfurt? Better put barbed wire onto playgrounds. For security reasons only, of course. pic.twitter.com/zk0sPYoPCC
— Touya Akira (@ClipperChip) March 18, 2015
But they believed some violence-prone protesters could use the crowds as cover, and had placed helicopters and water cannons on standby.
A special train has been chartered by organizers to bring 800 people from Berlin, and 60 buses from 39 European countries are also heading to the financial hub.
According to Frankfurt police, seven police vehicles were set on fire, adding "there were peaceful demonstrators and there were criminals also here this morning." The police said it deployed "upper-mid 4 figure number" of officers, but declined to comment on deployment of gas.
As for the ECB, demonstrators said they want to blockade the billion-dollar building, in an attempt to disrupt what they describe as "capitalist business as usual."
A clip of the police using water cannon on protesters and some of the highlights of today's protest so far:
The ECB, along with the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, are part of the so-called "troika" monitoring countries' compliance with the conditions of bailout loans.
These include lowering government spending and other debt-reduction methods, which have been blamed for increasing unemployment and stunting economic growth.
The ECB says it plans to remain "fully operational" despite the action, with some employees working from home. Because buying bonds only requires a computer stroke from anywhere in the world.
* * *
And here is a live webcast from Frankfurt:
»
- 26022 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
The new ECB building cost 1.2 billion Euro. One point two fucking billion Euro! And then these fuckers inside say that all the countries must austere and cut on pensions, public salaries, etc. Well, now you know why: to finance a megalomaniac building of a megalomaniac institution that will turn us all into servitude.
So no wonder the protest. Except protesting will not accomplish anything, especially if they get out of hand but don't be surprised if a lot of the rioting was staged.
When I was 10 years old, I decided I wanted to help animals so I joined the WWF and sent my 5 shillings. As well as a sticker, I also received a newsletter telling me all about the wonderful new headquarters they had built.
Guess not a lot of my 5s went to help animals.
Fuck this.
It's good to learn those lessons early. Some people never learn them.
For instance, my government takes my money, gives it to illegal immigrants, and I never even get a letter about it. At least Sally Strothers would send a picture of a starving African child...
The "Help me! I'm a rich un-job creator!!" line isn't working to well anymore.
At least these kids have the energy and winningness to get the fuck out in the street for some exercise. And no matter what, you've got to ..."love the smell of burning cop cars in the morning."
h/t to Robert Duval.
Pretty good illustration here of why protest movements don't gain any traction in the US. Many Americans think they are one lucky pulltab away from being millionaires themselves. Many others prefer to support the police state because they don't like anybody the Elites call "Dirty Hippies." Saying that protesters just want more welfare works too, as do stories of drug use or sexual impropriety.
Also very effective is the meme that protesters aren't engaged in the "right" protest, so they deserve whatever the police state dishes out. Squabbles over semantics are very useful to the elites as well. Naming of well-established cultural enemies as being the true sponsors of protests, and the protesters as their dupes, works too.
Yes, the US power elites learned a lot from the 1960s They haven't just divided and conqurered, they've gotten those they victimize the most to support the violent repression of any dissent. Look at all the comments to the effect that "I'm the real victim, and I'm not protesting, so anybody who protests should feel the full wrath of the State."
All the vague talk of being armed and assassinating the "correct" targets suits the power elites just fine. They know that isn't going to happen because it never has, and anytime any protests start, all the armchair talkers take the side of the powerful against the powerless, as usual.
The overall message is that the Elites are too powerful, those protesting are too dirty and too stupid, so all we can do is mutter and go about our business as usual, supporting those who grind us into the dirt because, through some perverse logic, we have "too much to lose."
I know because it works on me, too.
Isn't that one ugly ass building for 1.2b? Looks more like
an old school KGB interrogation unit.
Ah,
the first sign of spring.
Hey, why are they not burning down the elitists' new building??
Heathens! They need to obtain the proper permits and pay the fees. Once permission is granted from the entity you are protesting then march, no, calmly walk to the free speech zone two miles away.
"Instead of drowning retards like unwanted kittens, we vote on proposals to give them our resources." if i ever saw u drowning kittens i would beat u to within an inch of your life! as for the retards - i would not make an effort to save u
don't live beyond your means.
make way for the prophets of rage
I'm holding out for Techno-Viking.
Why do they keep calling programs "austerity" ? The countries are at 100% of Debt / GDP and they are starting a Euro QE program...WTF ?
Instead of "austerity" they should be calling it "Stealing by the Gov't and Banks" programs. Stop those and bring the left wing fabians to justice ... brutally.
as much as i love the unrest porn, how can you protest something that hasn't been in existence for over 101 years?
i protest dinosaurs..so what. capitalism has been crushed by monopoly then crony capitalism which is fascism lite..soon to be distilled to its essence.
So, austerity is now defined as an "utter lack of reforms?" And I thought it meant living within ones means.
Socialists and Facists, all.
definitely time to stock the ammo.
You morons with your idiotic left vs right bullshit are making me sick. Likewise you morons spouting off about "pure capitalism"... which is an impossible pipe dream. Marx may have been wrong about communism, but he was absolutely right about capitalism: it's always going to end with exactly what we have right now. I don't think there's a good way to design a large, complex system.
Regarding the protesters: you guys bitch mightily about the status quo, but you get mad when somebody tries to stand up to it? What. The. Fuck. A whole generation with NO future, but you expect them to bend over and take it up the ass.
That said, I disagree with them on tactics, same as with OWS a couple of years back. You don't directly engage an enemy that has you hopelessly outgunned. You're not even really raising awareness; I think it's universally understood, at least in a vague sort of way, that the system is hopelessly corrupt. There's also a universal vague feeling that there's fuck-all we can do about it, and that vague feeling is almost certainly right.
Look, we have to go through corrupt institutions to get absolutely everything. You can't eat without big ag, you're stuck with big pharma if you get sick, you have to go through big education if you want a degree anyone will take seriously. You can't do any of these things, or buy a house or a car, without going through Big Finance. These institutions have no incentive to change, because there are no alternatives. I suggest that until we've developed alternate methods of getting the things we need, we have no leverage to do anything but shout into the wind. The only effective protest is to learn to live outside of the money economy, and teach others to do the same. I haven't even remotely achieved that myself.
I feel it's gonna spread up. It's gonna get worse before it gets any better.
New ECB HQ: Now That's One Hot Frankfurter!: http://prestonclive.whotrades.com/blog/43385971283