German protesters turned violent in Frankfurt during the Wednesday inauguration ceremony for the European Central Bank’s new headquarters.
Police officers were hit with stones, three of their vehicles were turned over, some were set ablaze, and bridges were blocked. Thousands of riot officers were deployed to the protest with 88 of them being injured. Roughly 500 protesters were detained.
“What we’re seeing, I think, in Frankfurt is a reaction you see across the eurozone for many people who have said it’s just been too painful, too much, and it’s been going for too long,” CNN’s Jim Boulden said Wednesday.
Activists who were engaged in the violence are upset with ECB’s efforts to keep the eurozone financially stable. The “Blockupy alliance” asserts that efforts to control debt in countries like Greece are unduly burdensome.
A Blockupy spokeswoman spoke out against the violence on behalf of its cause on Wednesday.
“Blockupy is clearly against violence. Obviously, there are people that go against what we intended for this day,” the spokesman said, CNN reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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