A drug arrest in Stuttgart, Germany escalated into rioting, looting and violent assaults, which ultimately resulted in the injuries of 19 police officers Saturday night.
“Partiers” who had gathered in the city center began attacking police officers who were chasing a suspect in a drug deal, according to an eyewitness report from Deutsche Welle.
The rioters eventually grew to hundreds strong, beating the police back with rubble from a construction site, CNN reported. Approximately 30 stores were damaged in the chaos in addition to 12 police cars. 19 police officers were injured during the riot, and 24 rioters were arrested. The German police are launching investigations into the attacks and expect more arrests to be made, according to CNN. (RELATED: Victim Of Rioting Says She Is Being Threatened For Helping Police Find People Who Destroyed Her Store)
Stuttgart Mayor Fritz Kuhn, however, denied that the unrest was caused by partiers. “They weren’t party-goers who came to Stuttgart to celebrate. They were rioters who wanted to riot. Stuttgart is a liberal city, but a border has been crossed here,” he announced in a press conference.
Some news outlets have also claimed that the rioters were composed of a large number of migrants. The Daily Mail reported that half of those arrested were foreign nationals hailing from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iran, Iraq and Portugal. It also claimed there were chants of “Allahu Akbar” from the crowd.
A video released by Bild that allegedly showed the Muslim chant.
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Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister Thomas Strobl commented that the riots were of “an unprecedented nature,” according to The Guardian. The police also admitted that the violent unrest at one time became “out of control,” according to the BBC.