According to the police, the rioters were from the “party and event scene”.
It all started when police questioned a 17-year-old about an alleged drug-offence around 11.30pm near the city’s biggest square, the Schlossplatz, on Saturday night. The situation then escalated when 200-300 young people rallied behind the youth and started throwing stones and bottles at police. This group then grew to about 400-500 strong, charging against the authorities, rioting and vandalising shops.
19 officers were injured and 24 people were arrested. Investigations are ongoing.
Reports indicate that in the night leading into Sunday, dozens of groups of young men rioted throughout the city centre, breaking shop windows and attacking police officers. There were moments in which the whole situation was completely out of control, and it wasn’t until the early hours of Sunday morning that things calmed down. 200 Baden-Württemberg officers had to lend a hand.
Sascha Binder, a local MP of the Social Democratic party (SPD) spoke of “civil war-like scenes”. Stuttgart has been home to a number of anti-coronavirus protests in recent weeks.
