At least 100 people have been arrested after protesters clashed with police on day two of the G20 summit in Hamburg.
Friday’s anti-establishment protest caused chaos in the northern German city as crowds set fire to cars and ransacked shops before attacking police with molotov cocktails.
READ MORE: Molotov cocktails & iron bars: G20 protests rage on in Hamburg, 200+ police injured
Parts of Hamburg were under a blanket of black smoke Friday while special forces used water canons in an effort to control the rioting. Some 200 officers were injured in the clashes.
Thousands more protesters have turned out for Saturday’s demonstration which has remained mostly peaceful so far, although a heavy police presence is visible.
08 July 2017
About 50,000 people took part in the anti-G20 protests Saturday, according to a statement from German police.
While most demonstrations were peaceful, officers did use their batons and deploy a water hose to control a crowd who were throwing bottles at police during the March in Millerntorplatz, read the statement.
Four officers were injured in the incident, but were able to continue in the line of duty.
RT’s Lizzie Phelan, who is in Hamburg, said police are struggling to regain control of Schulterblatt street. Clashes have resumed in the push to prevent officers from entering.
Some clashes have broken out between police and G20 protesters at a demo in Hamburg city center on Saturday.
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Hamburg residents have been critical of their country’s decision to host the summit. One local compared Friday night’s violence to “civil war”.
Watch live as protesters march against the G20 summit.
Photos from Hamburg show the destruction resulting from Friday night’s clashes. Boarded-up businesses, disabled ATMs and copious amounts of spray paint are part of the aftermath.
Hamburg law enforcement authorities moved to deploy a range of special forces units in the Schanzenviertel area against "militant persons," after activists "armed with Molotov cocktails and iron bars" attacked the police.
The officers were "repeatedly subjected to violent attacks," with stones and bottles being thrown at police lines, authorities said in their latest press release.
After police moved in using "forced means,” violent demonstrators split into smaller groups, with some finding shelter on rooftops of the neighborhood.
The latest statement added that around 500 perpetrators looted a supermarket Altonaerstrasse before setting the premises on fire.
Separately, some 250 activists went on to erect barricades around Schlump, Hamburg’s U-Bahn station area. Several vehicles were also set alight.
"According to the current situation, no further action by militant persons has taken place in the city of Hamburg," the statement added.
Hamburg police have created a special online portal where authorities are asking the public to upload "original" media files to help identify the perpetrators of crimes committed during the G20 protests.
"We ask all persons who have produced videos or pictures of criminals or criminally relevant events to use the media upload intensively in order to help in the investigation of criminals," police said.
Speaking to the German broadcaster NDR, a spokesman for the "Welcome to Hell" demo, Andreas Blechschmidt, distanced himself from "senseless violence" and heavy rioting which erupted in Hamburg.
Rioters are setting cars on fire and erecting new barricades in the Altona and St. Pauli areas of Hamburg. Security forces are responding, police said in their latest Twitter message.
Police did not storm the Rote Flora in the Sternschanze area. The situation around the former theater building has now largely calmed down, a Hamburg police spokeswoman was quoted as saying by DW.
Some 200 activists vandalized several properties in the area surrounding Rondenbarg street and that some of the looters managed to escape, police said.
Only 59 people have been "temporarily" detained pending charges. Hamburg police also announced that 14 of the rioters were taken to hospital with injuries.
The police statement added that security forces had ”been massively battered" by the alleged perpetrators.
"We have never experienced such a degree of hatred and violence," police spokesman, Timo Zill told the Bild Daily Special.
Police said the violence in Hamburg escalated at around 11:02 in the areas of St. Pauli and the Schanzenviertel. Rioters erected and lit the barricades in the Bleicherstraße area where the anti-globalization activists attacked police lines by hurling an assortment of objects at the officers.
Protesters also looted a supermarket, a drugstore, and a financial institution, in addition to various other shops in the center of the German city. Molotov cocktails and gas bottles were thrown into the looted stores.
"At present, the police are using a large range of forces against approximately 1,500 rioters," police said in a statement.
07 July 2017
Sternschanze quarter, in the center of Hamburg within the Altona borough, has seen numerous looting by small gangs, police said, adding, the tensions "seems to [have] settled down.”
After clearing much of the Schulterblatt Straße, security forces are moving in to clear Rote Flora, a former theater in the Sternschanze quarter in Hamburg, DW German reports.
Security forces are being attacked and barricades have been erected at the Schlump (Hamburg’s U-Bahn station). The underground station is closed for security reasons, police said.
Police justified their move on protesters at the Schanzenviertel quarter in the center of Hamburg by claiming there were "indications" that rioters were preparing attacks with Molotov cocktails and slingshots, Hamburg police tweeted.
About 100 people have so far been taken into custody, Zill told German media, adding, that additional arrest warrants have been issued.
Some "1500 violent extremists" are hiding from authorities inside various buildings across the city, Timo Zill, a spokesman for Hamburg Police, said in an interview with TV channel N-TV. The officers would now conduct house to house searches to root out the rioters.
Hamburg police have reiterated their request for media outlets and private individuals not to film security operations against rioters as the footage might "endanger" the officers.
The police called it an "urgent request" which "has nothing to do with censorship." ”Livestreams could jeopardize our efforts,” authorities warned.
At least 197 police officers have been injured in the riots, police said. Authorities have been unable to provide the toll for the injured from the protest camp.
Police are continuing to deploy forces against rioters at the G20 summit, city police said, adding, that they were forced to move in against the protesters setting up burning barricades in the streets.
Hamburg police have warned the public to avoid mixing with violent protesters as security forces move in against rioters.
Police state situation in Hamburg remains "very serious" following reports of looting in parts of the city.
Protester releases fireworks from rooftop during G20 demonstrations in Hamburg.
Hamburg police officer fires warning shot in attempt to disperse violent brawl in Sternschanze.
"The officer was drawn to two men who were striking and stepping on a man lying on the ground," an official police statement said. "The officer demanded the men to stop... and the officer gave a warning shot. The injured party and the police officers escaped to a kiosk. The suspected perpetrators managed to escape."
Some 196 officers have been injured in the violent clashes with G20 protesters, says Hamburg police.
Protesters have started a blaze in the middle of a street in Hamburg as tensions between anti G20 demonstrators and police heighten.
Hamburg police have asked peaceful protesters to distance themselves from "criminals" and to leave the areas where riots have broken out, after one officer was forced to take refuge in a shop following a "massive attack" by "violent criminals".
An anti G20 protester whistles the Star Wars Imperial March as armed police stomp the streets.
Hamburg police claim to have used water cannons at various points in the St. Pauli area "against troublemakers".
Live footage from the anti G20 demonstration in Hamburg shows a standoff between heavily armed police and protesters.
Videos continue to surface showing cars being set on fire on the streets of Hamburg.
Hamburg police have provided an update on the number of officers injured during the ongoing clashes with protesters.
160 police officers have been injured over the course of two days of confrontations. They said a figure for the number of civilians injured is not known.
“Black Bloc” anarchists, who have been involved in riots around Hamburg, have been filmed smashing windows in the Altona district of the city.
In one of the videos rioters, with their faces clad in black, repeatedly attempt to smash a shop window using a road sign.
Some of the shops in the area boarded up some of their windows following Thursday night's disturbances.
Mounted police have been deployed to the streets to try and disperse the crowds of demonstrators.
Video footage has emerged of riot police using water cannons to disperse crowds in Landungsbrücken. Police earlier said that rioters had broken into a blocked subway station in the area.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has labelled the violent protests "unacceptable", AFP is reporting.
Hamburg police have tweeted that rioters have broken into the barricaded Landungsbrücken subway station. They are using water cannons to disperse the crowd.
Hamburg’s famous Elbchaussee thoroughfare has been left littered with burnt out cars.
Police have released photos of some of the damage caused by protesters, including anti-police graffiti.
Twitter user Jesko Radtke captured video of the moment a police officer fired pepper spray in his direction. "How do you justify the use of pepper spray?" he asked Hamburg police.
US First Lady Melania Trump expressed concern for anyone hurt during the protests.
Earlier on Friday the First Lady was prevented from leaving her hotel due to safety concerns.
Hamburg police have tweeted that they are using water cannons on protesters in the Landungsbrücken area.
Hundreds of protesters blocked one of the main roads at the harbour earlier causing massive traffic jams for people travelling through Germany’s largest port.
Video tweeted by Bild reported Frank Schneider shows dozens of “Black Bloc” anarchists marching through the streets with their faces covered while carrying banners.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has cancelled an appearance in downtown Hamburg due to security concerns.
Earlier police declined to give clearance to US First Lady Melania Trump's motorcade to leave her hotel to join in a tour of the city's historic harbour, her spokeswoman said.
Reuters are reporting that police forces around Germany have dispatched reinforcements to help the 15,000 police already in Hamburg for the summit due to the escalating violence.
At least 15 people have been arrested and dozens more have been held for questioning.
Video filmed on Elbchausee posted by an Instagram user Joerg Rothe shows numerous cars on fire.
Protesters are sharing sandwiches at the demonstration in Millerntorplatz.
Demonstrators are being shadowed by riot police throughout the city.
Enormous gathering of anarchists are chanting anti-capitalist slogans.
Enormous gathering of anarchists are chanting anti-capitalist slogans.
Pillars of smoke are visible in parts of the city.
Pillars of smoke are visible in parts of the city.