Last night I was sitting in a friends flat drinking some coffee when I heard what sounded like a gun go off, although I think it was a flaregun or some sort of firework. I ran to the window to see hundreds of people flooding the street that were screaming ''fuck the police'' in German. Much more was said during the riot, but unfortunately the language barrier got in my way of understanding everything. After seeing the flood of people, we see about three German police vans full of fully armed policemen unloading on our street where they quickly tried to barracade the street to keep people from surging in. Of course, seeing all of this happening right outside my window, made my journalistic curiousity take over and I ran outside with two of my coworkers to find out what was going on. Fully functional with my PJs on and Flip Cam in hand, we started asking questions as soon as we got on the street. Luckily, two people were willing to answer our questions in English. I recorded what they said, but eventually I got shut down near the end.
The riot took place in the district of witch I live in, Kreuzberg. An protester for anit-globalization was shot by an Italian policeman on July 21, 2001 and on Saturday, July 16, 2011; people have once again stood up and reminded everyone of his death, raging against policemen. The protester was one of many in the demonstration that threw rocks at police vans and became quite aggressive. What one may note as defence, (Italy
It was interesting to see how the police handled the riot last night. It was different than it would be in America. The police worked around the protesters, not against them. They did not stand infront of them, or yell back. They walked inbetween them in the streets and took the criticism. They created mild barracades around the district so that cars could not go through, creating a safer environment for bystandards during the protest. There was a helicopter hovering above to keep an eye out for the continuous moving riot location.
There were a lot of loud noices, yelling and hurt in the air. However, there was no violence. What sounded like something incredibly horrendous happening, turned out to be much more remorseful and peaceful than presented. In America, I think one would be more likely to get punched while in a room with two opposing fans of the NFL, than last nights riot in Berlin.
It was interesting to see how the police handled the riot last night. It was different than it would be in America. The police worked around the protesters, not against them. They did not stand infront of them, or yell back. They walked inbetween them in the streets and took the criticism. They created mild barracades around the district so that cars could not go through, creating a safer environment for bystandards during the protest. There was a helicopter hovering above to keep an eye out for the continuous moving riot location.
There were a lot of loud noices, yelling and hurt in the air. However, there was no violence. What sounded like something incredibly horrendous happening, turned out to be much more remorseful and peaceful than presented. In America, I think one would be more likely to get punched while in a room with two opposing fans of the NFL, than last nights riot in Berlin.
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