German police used a water cannon to break up a left-wing protest in Berlin. The police came under fire from bottles and stones in a street battle that has become an annual event in city. Over 6,000 socialists and anarchists built barricades overnight in the eastern Berlin suburbs of Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg, setting some alight. A police spokesman said that several officers had been injured in the clashes and that around 40 protesters had been arrested overnight.
Dozens of protestors also barricaded streets in Hamburg early this morning. They damaged cars, street signs and telephone boxes and set off fireworks. A police spokesman in Hamburg said that one protestor was arrested after the skirmishes and 31 were temporarily detained.
A record 9,000 police were deployed in Berlin for Mayday. Last year, running battles between protesters and police left 226 officers wounded and 401 demonstrators detained. More violence is later on today as anti-racist protestors intend to disrupt a march by the far-right National Democratic Party.
Police have warned that the Mayday violence may be worse than usual in Berlin. A court recently upheld a decision to ban a traditional left-wing demonstration, but ruled that the extreme right-wing march could proceed in an outlying suburb. Posters around Berlin in recent weeks have called for counter-demonstrators to "brighten up the neo-Nazis" by throwing paint bombs at the NPD demonstration.
