After a giveaway of branded clothes in Hamburg a week and a half ago that got out of hand, seven young suspects have now been identified, according to the police. Among them is a twelve-year-old child who is not under the age of criminal responsibility, as the police in Hamburg announced on Tuesday. Five teenagers and one teenager are among the suspects.
A total of 21 investigations are currently underway after several police officers were attacked in the city center. It is determined because of serious breaches of the peace, physical attacks on officials and dangerous bodily harm. The police are asking witnesses for photos and videos of the crimes.
On March 4th, a fashion company’s marketing campaign, which was supposed to give free clothes, escalated. 300 to 400 people came for the clothes. When the police announced that the action would not take place, the situation escalated. Three officers were injured, one seriously. Two squad cars were damaged.
The company itself stated that it had not expected such a large rush – a similar campaign in Düsseldorf was much smaller. The interior authority is now checking whether the company can be billed for the large-scale operation. Several parties in the Hamburg Parliament had called for this.
In the past few weeks there have also been other actions by mostly young people and adolescents that have triggered police operations – for example in a cinema where a film screening was massively disrupted by bottles, popcorn and other food being thrown over the rows of seats. The actions are filmed with the cell phone camera and then distributed via the Internet portal TikTok – and this happened not only in Hamburg, but also in many other German cities.
