Revolutionary May Day 2003 - Berlin - Part 2

Berlin Anarchists Burn Cars as Violence Flares
May 1, 2003

By David Crossland

BERLIN (Reuters) - Left-wing anarchists tipped over several cars in Berlin and set them ablaze on Thursday evening as May Day violence flared up again in the German capital while police struggled to bring the situation under control.

Berlin police tried to prevent a further escalation of the annual Labor Day violence and initially stayed away from acting against demonstrations that turned violent. But authorities later fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters who began throwing bottles and stones at helmet-clad riot police in the Kreuzberg district and later began toppling cars and setting them on fire.

"We're trying to get the situation under control," said Berlin police spokesman Peter Scharfenberg.

German television showed a group of anarchists tipping over a car in Kreuzberg and celebrating with raised arms as they jumped on the overturned vehicle, before setting it alight.

A Volkswagen minivan parked nearby was also set on fire, burning brightly. Left-wing demonstrators have in the past occasionally set luxury cars ablaze in the district to protest sharply rising rents and costs in the section of Berlin that was isolated in the shadows of the Berlin Wall.

By late evening thousands of people were milling about the district as a tense calm descended with periodic outbreaks of violence quickly quelled by groups of police deployed on most street corners. Streets were strewn with shards of broken glass.

Police said that while there were a number of small outbursts of violence in Kreuzberg, the situation in many parts of the city remained peaceful.

They said it was too early to say how many people were detained or injured. Scharfenberg said there were "a number of people" detained.

Youths were also seen hurling stones and bottles at police vehicles before being drenched by the powerful truck-mounted water cannon.

The disturbances on Thursday evening followed a night of violence in the early morning hours -- despite the presence of about 7,500 police officers. The violence erupted at the end of a peaceful protest by about 4,000 people just before midnight on Wednesday.

Some 200 anarchists hurled bottles and rocks and set off fireworks at police, who charged the group and arrested 97. Street barricades were set ablaze and shop windows smashed. The rioting lasted until about 3 a.m. on Thursday.