G-8 summit: There's a riot going on...

Sounds like there was quite a rumble at the G-8 protests on Saturday. Here's a minute-long video from El Mundo: Violentos enfrentamientos en la marcha contra el G-8 06/02/07. The formal meeting doesn't start until June 6.

This article reports 146 police injured on the first day, 25 seriously: El primer día de protestas contra la cumbre del G-8 en Alemania deja 146 policías heridos El Mundo/EFE 06/02/07. No word included on how many demonstrators may have been injured.Der Spiegel has more photos: Rostock: Steine, Stinkefinger, brennende Autos.

And they're reporting more than 300 or more police injured: Randale in Rostock - 300 verletzte Polizisten. These initial reports are blaming "Autonomen", or "autonomous" groups - anarchists, more-or-less. It's worth noting that in this article, reporting prior to the riot, that the German police union was criticizing US demands on security measures, particularly the notion that protesters should be completely out of sight of the G-8 participants: Polizeigewerkschaft kritisiert US-Sicherheitsvorgaben Der Spiegel 02.06.07. Bush doesn't want to see the demonstrators, hear them, or think about them. The police union chairperson said, "Es ist mir eine Herzensangelegenheit, dass Menschen demonstrieren dürfen, dass der Protest deutlich sichtbar ist. Das ist wichtig für unsere Demokratie." ("It is my heart's desire that people be allowed to demonstrate, [and] that the protest is clearly visible. That is important for our democracy.")

For the demonstrators to initiate violence at these things is pointless, especially if the police themselves are demanding greater freedom for peaceful demonstrators. I haven't seen any credible reports yet on provocateurs in this case. But given everything we know about how the Cheney-Bush administration handles things, the chances of them sending in provocateurs is something around 100%, I would guess.

Tags: g-8 summit

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