In over 30 European cities, tens of thousands take to the streets against capitalism!
April 2nd, 2012 As a member of the M31 alliance (www.march31.net), the umsGanze! network of Germany and Austria (umsganze.org) would like to thank everyone who took to the streets during last Saturday’s European Day of Action against Capitalism.
In Frankfurt and in over 30 other European cities, tens of thousands protested against capitalism and authoritarian crisis regulation. Over 10.000 demonstrated in Milano, and about 6.000 in Frankfurt.
M31, an alliance of leftist initiatives and grassroots unions, had called for action to set a clear signal of protest and solidarity. This day of action has been a first step of transnational cooperation of anti-capitalist and anti-national groups.
Organizers in Germany see an attendance of 6.000 at the demonstration in Frankfurt as a good success. However, due to brutal and disproportionate police interference early in our demonstration, we missed our goal to shut down the ECB construction site.
Police took minor damage caused by a few demonstrators as a pretext to attack the whole demonstration, block and divide it, and dissolve it prematurely. In the course of those police attacks, more than 130 people were injured, some seriously. Medics registered broken bones, lacerations and torn tendons. Many others were injured through pepper spray. Of those kettled for over 9 hours at Battonstraße/Allerheiligentor, two had to be rescued by an ambulance. All in all, about 450 people were arrested by police in Frankfurt.
Leo Schneider, spokesman of the M31 alliance, commented these incidents as follows: „There were paint bombs and stones thrown at the European Central Bank, at a police station and an employment agency. In the light of ever more brutal social conditions, we understand where they’re coming from. We see those militant actions as an expression of anger about the authoritarian crisis regulation in the EU. European states rescue and streamline capitalism on the backs of wageworkers and vulnerable social classes. That’s what we oppose. Hurting people is not our goal.„
