63 Arrested in Copenhagen Clashes

[Strengthandhonour]

63 Arrested in Copenhagen Clashes


2 hours ago
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A protest by hundreds of youth activists turned violent Sunday, with protesters setting fire to cars and smashing shop windows, police said.
One officer was injured and 63 people were arrested as riot police clashed with the rock-throwing youths, police said.
"Three or four people will be charged for violent behavior against police officers," said police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch. "The others have been released."
The unrest started after a demonstration late Saturday commemorating the Youth House, a makeshift cultural center for the city's anarchists and disaffected youth, which was demolished in March.
"It's six months since we cleared the house there, and they want to show they've not forgotten," police spokesman Mads Firlings said. "Almost immediately they started building barricades and throwing rocks through the windows of shops and banks."
He said police used tear gas to disperse the crowds who set fires to barricades and cars, including a police vehicle that had been abandoned by officers fleeing the angry mob.
The situation calmed down by Sunday morning. Crews started cleaning up streets charred by fire and littered with broken glass and garbage, police spokesman Gunnar Noerager said.
He said one police officer received minor injuries when a tear gas canister accidentally exploded inside a police van.
In March, hundreds of people were arrested in several days of street violence when police evicted squatters living in the graffiti-sprayed brick building.




source: The Associated Press: 63 Arrested in Copenhagen Clashes

[Marulus]

Interesting, it appears that clashes like this, between anarchists and police, happen quite often in Copenhagen.

Ljubomir's comment?

[Sergius]

As the article says, they are commemorating the clearing of Ungdomshuset, which took place six months ago. The week has been announced as "Protest Week," so there will be a lot more of this.
Honestly I can't imagine the issue being solved in the near future. The local authorities went out of their way to find a solution to the problem around the time of the clearing of the House, offering the group that ran the place another house for a price that they knew the group had collected from sympathizers. The kids weren't willing to pay more than one krone for a new house, and now they are sobbing over the mayor's alleged lack of will to solve the problem "politically." Since the first wave of demonstrations back in March, they are effectively killing all support for their cause in the Nørrebro area by burning down everything.

edit: Also worth mentioning is that I have a lot of friends who used to go to concerts and parties at Ungdomshuset, and apart from one of them, they were not a part of the demonstrations back in March, and are not a part of those that are taking place now. Those who were in charge of the House, and that's perhaps the greatest obstacle in the way of a solution, were the most radical ones, who weren't willing, unlike many of the non-extreme users of the place, to accept a different house.
Either way, their protests are getting completely insane, their demands only increase, and the political and public support for them is shrinking at an enormous pace.

[Sergius]

Originally Posted by Faustas

Honestly I can't imagine the issue being solved in the near future.

You have to be wrong every now and then. The Ungdomshuset users were given a new house this tuesday. It is located in a different part of Copenhagen (slightly further away from the centre of the city), which caused some complaints, but I think they have agreed to take it into use.