“The group of perpetrators was predominantly migrant,” says Poseck – AfD accuses the government of failing

After the riots in Frankfurt/Main, the Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) announced consistent prosecution and investigation.

"Tonight must have clear consequences. This group of perpetrators was predominantly migrant. And we have to deal with that too," he said in Frankfurt. “There can be no false taboos here.” A special commission has already been set up. The perpetrators would have to feel the full force of the rule of law.

The security authorities in Hesse would focus even more on these violent young people with a migration background in the future. “I want to say very clearly: In this way we are also protecting the many people with a migrant background in our country who adhere to the law,” said Poseck.

A total of 17 shops were damaged in the riots and five were looted. According to Poseck, 54 arrests were made. The suspects were between 13 and 29 years old. The police assume that they were dealing with 1,000 to 1,500 violent disruptors, “mostly from the migrant milieu.”

He described the riots as a “difficult night with some horrific levels of violence.” “I have seen images that do not belong in our cityscape,” the Interior Minister continued at the press conference. Violence and destruction dominated the night in Frankfurt.

“I have to say that what I saw shocked me to the core,” he continued. Things cannot continue like this. “We must not leave the country to those who act so violently against our police.” During the operation, 100 police officers were injured, one of them seriously.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) also commented on the events: “Violent left-wing groups and chaotic people from the migrant milieu hijacked the peaceful afternoon demonstrations yesterday evening,” the CSU politician told “Bild”. "The rioters and looters will be identified and held accountable. This breach of the peace must be met with harsh punishments."

At the same time, he praised the actions of the security forces. “Excesses of violence like those in Paris were prevented thanks to our highly committed police forces,” said Dobrindt. “The police operational concept with a massive presence and decentralized deployment of forces has worked.”

The AfD parliamentary group in the Hesse state parliament accused Hesse's Interior Minister Poseck of failing to prevent "French conditions". “The violence in Frankfurt am Main is frightening and once again an urgent call for the black and red coalition to finally take a closer look at left-wing extremists and migrant violence,” said state parliamentary group leader Robert Lambrou. “It is obvious that this is also about unresolved problems with migration.”

Something had started to slip in society. “Why are young people, most of them with a migrant background, looting a weapons store in Frankfurt of all places?” asked Lambrou. His group will make violence an issue in the state parliament.

“We are all surprised by the scale”

Clean-up work was in full swing in downtown Frankfurt. Shop owners like Jost Wiebelhaus from the Frankfurter Laufshop took a look at the damage caused by the rioters on Saturday evening in daylight. “We were all surprised that it was so big,” the owner of a running shop told a dpa reporter.

The shop is in the immediate vicinity of the Konstablerwache in downtown Frankfurt, one of the hotspots of the riots. Rioters smashed shop windows and stores were looted, including a weapons store.

Numerous volunteers help clean up the city center. "So after what you saw last night, last night, we just don't want to let that stand. That's not what Frankfurt stands for," said one of them, Maximilian Roth, to the dpa news agency. “We wanted to send a signal today that the city stands behind the businesses here, behind the people, and that the people who were up to mischief here yesterday are not representative of Frankfurt.”