I checked a few articles about this. They’re all very short on facts and very long on emotional reactions. This is most definitely being used to discredit otherwise valid protest. Mostly by far-right-leaning outlets. I found only one article that speaks of masked individuals, refrains from blaming the protests and adds overall context, and it’s not in English.
This happened yesterday. It is now Sunday. I will withhold further judgement for a few days.
edit (Monday):
Police reaction to these protests has been described as escalating, violent and incompetent long before this occurence and I can see how that might lead to events like this one.
The day after, however, all that was spoken of was the violence and the powerlessness of the state leadership. The actual topic and reason for the protests, namely the government’s austerity policy with its draft national budget and the question of purchasing power, faded into the background - which is perhaps just fine with the government. (source)
I’d also like to add that these acts are not aimed at people, just property. Something that cannot be said about the police violence.
This is true, and so do most articles. But Der Spiegel is still describing this as an individual occurence as opposed to most others who forego any finer points and immediately portray it as part of The Protests writ large. Its tone is also more respectful while remaining factual but that could just be because I’m more familiar with German.
I checked a few articles about this. They’re all very short on facts and very long on emotional reactions. This is most definitely being used to discredit otherwise valid protest. Mostly by far-right-leaning outlets. I found only one article that speaks of masked individuals, refrains from blaming the protests and adds overall context, and it’s not in English.
This happened yesterday. It is now Sunday. I will withhold further judgement for a few days.
edit (Monday):
Police reaction to these protests has been described as escalating, violent and incompetent long before this occurence and I can see how that might lead to events like this one.
Taz.de meanwhile has some more context; your favorite nuanced news outlet probably has too.
I’d also like to add that these acts are not aimed at people, just property. Something that cannot be said about the police violence.
As of right now, the article speaks of “Maskierte Demonstranten”, meaning masked protesters.
This is true, and so do most articles. But Der Spiegel is still describing this as an individual occurence as opposed to most others who forego any finer points and immediately portray it as part of The Protests writ large. Its tone is also more respectful while remaining factual but that could just be because I’m more familiar with German.