Stuttgart RIOTS: Police admit German city 'completely out of control'– 19 officers injured

GERMANY was this weekend rocked by "unprecedented" riots and looting where violent gangs smashed shop windows and attacked the police.

Police said the situation was “completely out of control” in Stuttgart, one of Germany’s largest cities. They said dozens of small groups hurled stones at officers early on Sunday morning in the city centre as they damaged shops and cars. Police said the riots broke out after officers conducted checks in the city centre related to a crackdown on drug dealing.

A spokesman said several groups ganged up on police officers and started to threaten them before the clashes turned “into real riots”.

Police officers were “confronted in an extremely aggressive manner, attacked and injured”, a police report said.

A total of 19 police officers were left injured and 24 rioters arrested, according to city officials.

Of the detainees, 12 were Germans, the others come from Bosnia, Portugal, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan.

They were described as being “from the party scene”, where people have been exhibiting aggressive behaviour against the police on social media.

Stuttgart mayor Fritz Kuhn condemned the riots, branding the violence “unacceptable”.

He insisted “violence against emergency services is not tolerated”, claiming that the inexcusable actions of the rioters had crossed a line that neither alcohol nor the will to show on on social media could excuse.

Mr Kuhn added: "I was very shocked this morning when I learned about what happened overnight. Stuttgart has never witnessed a night like this, with such attacks on the police."

According to police reports,



officers were forced to push large crowds back using pepper spray.

At one point between 400 and 500 people were facing off with officers, hurling stones, bottles and other objects taken from a nearby building site.

At least 30 stores were damaged, nine reported looting and 12 police cars were “massively damaged”, the local government said in a statement.

The police said: “Vehicles were hit with poles, posts and windows were smashed.”

More than 200 extra police officers were rushed into the centre centre to help regain control.

The clashes were calmer after dawn when firefighters and civil protection volunteers began repairing the damaged shop fronts.

By Sunday afternoon, much of the glass was gone or swept into piles in front of damaged shops.

Shattered windows were covered with wooden boards, many of which were graffitied with the words: “Create, don’t destroy.”

Stuttgart police chief Franz Lutz said: “They were unbelievable scenes that have left me speechless.

“In my 46 years of police service, I have never experienced this.”

Winfried Kretschmann, Baden Württemberg’s state premier, said: “I sharply condemn this brutal outbreak of violence, these acts against people and things are criminal action that must be forcefully prosecuted and condemned.”

Social Democrat regional MP Sascha Binder described the scenes as “civil war-like”.

And Thomas Strobl, the interior minister for the region, said the events were of an “unprecedented nature” and promised to “use all available means available under the rule of law to go after rioters”.