Halloween in Berlin: 132 arrests following rioting and pyrotechnic incidents
Massive rioting broke out in Berlin on Halloween night, with burning rubbish bins and attacks on police officers. Police arrested 132 people and are investigating them on suspicion of breach of the peace, assault and grievous bodily harm, and violations of explosives legislation.
Police operations on Halloween in Berlin
According to rbb24.de, 132 people were temporarily arrested in Berlin on Halloween night and 23 proceedings were initiated. Two police officers sustained injuries — one to an arm, one to a hand. Up to 800 police officers were deployed across the city.
Investigations are ongoing for breach of the peace, assault and grievous bodily harm, criminal damage by fire, as well as violations of explosives and weapons legislation and resistance to law enforcement officers. The riots were concentrated on streets in Wedding, Schöneberg, Kreuzberg, and in the north of Neukölln, in Gropiusstadt and in Märkisches Viertel.
According to the Berliner Zeitung, there were burning barricades, attacks on police and firefighters, and motorists passing by were targeted with firecrackers and fireworks rockets. In Märkisches Viertel, officers stopped a man carrying an axe at around 19:15. When he resisted, police officers deployed pepper spray and took him to hospital for medical treatment.
A video from Friedrichshain shows devastated streets, smashed car windows and graffiti with "Free Gaza" writing. On the roadway lay e-scooters, construction fence elements and rubbish bins. Around 150 people, some with their faces covered, set off pyrotechnic devices and dispersed before police arrived. Officers documented several instances of spray-painted graffiti with Middle East references at Boxhagener Platz.
Police reported pyrotechnic devices ignited and rubbish containers set on fire in various districts — including at Chamissoplatz, in Graefekiez and in the Thermometer estate in Lichterfelde. Groups of predominantly minors sporadically attacked police and firefighters with pyrotechnic devices.
Berlin regularly experiences unrest on Halloween night. In 2023, police recorded rioting particularly in Gesundbrunnen, Märkisches Viertel and Graefekiez. In 2021, the authorities documented numerous acts of violence against officers: young rioters threw firecrackers, bottles and eggs at police. A BVG bus and several cars were hit. In Neukölln, up to 100 children and youths hurled abuse at police; in Gesundbrunnen, up to 50 people rioted.
Source: Die Zeit Kriminalität