Frankfurt, Germany – Blockupy protests rocked the opening of the new European Central Bank near the Opera house downtown. The protests quickly turned into riots, as demonstrators clashed with police. The police reported 94 injuries, 14 from clashes with demonstrators and the rest from corrosive liquid or teargas.

After the direct action more than 10,000 people filled Frankfurt’s historic Römerberg square for a peaceful rally on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the European Central Bank unveiled its new headquarters in the financial hub.

A dizzying 1.3 billion euros was spent on a 185-meter-high fortress-like twin tower building.

There is nothing to celebrate in austerity and impoverishment! Over 10,000 people and determined activists from all over Europe converged on Frankfurt for Wednesday afternoon’s demonstration. Arriving by bus, train and caravan people came to interrupt this celebration of power and capital. Today their voices against the austerity crisis and capitalistic greed of the ECB were heard loud and clear.

At least 500 have been arrested. The city deployed at least 8,000 police officers ahead of the protest.

Barriers with barbed wire were put in place over 24 hours in advance to todays protest.

Activists held direct actions against the police station, where windows were smashed and several police vehicles set alight.

The rally continues with a march and more actions to come as the day progresses.

 

Check back for live updates and check out the Twitter accounts below:Many activists are live on the ground, including Revolution News contributor @enough14.
Additionally, there is a #Blockupy Twitter list collecting tweets from those on the ground.

There is also a separate Twitter account working as a Blockupy Ticker

Archived video recorded live.