The mayor of Leipzig condemns the riots – DER SPIEGEL



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After a spontaneous demonstration in Leipzig’s Connewitz district escalated on Friday night, Mayor Burkhard Jung condemned Saturday’s riots. “You cannot create a living space by attacking the police and setting fire to the barricades,” the SPD politician said on Saturday.

The police had killed two occupations in Leipzig in the run-up to the riots. As a result, around a hundred people demonstrated on Friday night, some of them violently, some throwing stones at officers and setting up burning barricades. There were also riots in eastern Leipzig on Thursday night.

Jung warned that the affordable housing debate in Leipzig suffered a severe setback with occupations and violent conflict. To resume a dialogue, the trust that has been lost must first be regained.

Police collect stones to obtain evidence

After the riots, the police began collecting evidence. Police officers collected stones that had been thrown at police vehicles. The stones were packed in plastic bags and taken for evaluation. According to the police, eight officers were slightly injured during the demonstration. No further information was available Saturday morning on the amount of damage.

For some time, a battle has been fought in Leipzig over the decrease in living space. The current triggers are houses like the one on Ludwigstrasse 71, which was occupied in August after 20 years of unemployment and was vacated by the police on September 2. The housing debate is also raging on the short message service Twitter under the hashtags #Leipzig and #LeipzigBesetzen: “While people are desperately looking for housing, squatting is a crime, but don’t let it rot.” write one. Squatters.

the The German Thuringian Police Union, on the other hand, tweeted: “After the occupied house in Ludwigstrasse 71 was vacated, the scene on the left had moved on the net and threatened, among other things:” If they take our houses, we will flatten the city. “



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