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Police operation at the derby at FC St. Pauli's Millerntor Stadium
Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt / dpa
The scene lasts little more than a minute.
You can see her on a private Twitter video that was created last Friday.
The clip shows the police operation before the Hamburger SV football derby against FC St. Pauli.
Several police officers in protective gear hold a number of St. Pauli supporters on the ground.
An officer kneels down and punches a man three times in the kidney area.
Shortly thereafter, the policeman takes his elbow and hits the man's neck with two blows.
The case upset the city.
The "Hamburger Abendblatt" called the behavior of the policeman "a disgrace".
An officer hits a defenseless man.
The images are "shocking, disturbing and scandalous".
The left demanded that the police operation must be "politically processed".
The criminologist Thomas Feltes spoke of a "border crossing" by the police officer, the intervention was obviously not proportionate: "Nothing excuses this violence."
The scene from the Twitter video happened before the game at the St. Pauli Stadium not far from the Reeperbahn.
A group of around 250 hooligans from FC St. Pauli ran towards a train of HSV supporters who were being escorted by police officers.
This is how Mirko Streiber, the vice president of the Hamburg police, describes it to SPIEGEL.
"The hooligans deliberately sought an argument with the HSV fans and the police."
Colleagues took more than 30 members of the group into custody.
"That was right and important to prevent an escalation in the further course of the mission."
The man on the Twitter video was one of the "hooligan group".
The police officer who hit him was a federal police officer.
Overall, the police were on duty with more than 1,400 officers, about 400 came from abroad.
There are doubts that the federal police officer acted proportionately, admits Sdriver.
Therefore, the Hamburg police filed a criminal complaint against their colleague at the weekend on suspicion of physical harm in office.
Now the public prosecutor's office and the internal investigation department of the interior authority would have to decide whether a criminal offense had been committed.
Police deputy warns against hasty conclusions
"I'm advocating waiting for the result of this test and not jumping to any hasty conclusions," Sdriver said.
The federal police officer "apparently uses the coercive measures to be able to fix the man's arms behind his back".
This is intended to ensure that the man is "transported safely".
In addition, it can be ruled out "that there will be further resistance".
According to police sources, the person concerned, who apparently has not reported himself so far, is a 37-year-old Italian.
He had apparently flown in for the game, probably to take part in riots.
After the game, he was released from custody.
As "Bild" and "Abendblatt" report, the police found cocaine and ecstasy on him.
The police have known him for a long time as a violent criminal.
He is said to have been involved in riots in Frankfurt am Main in 2015.
The police reported him for his behavior before the derby on suspicion of breach of the peace and resistance to law enforcement officials.
Pressure on the interior senator
Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD), the chief chief of police, commented on the incident for the first time on Monday.
He could "well understand that many of the images in this video sequence are shocked".
The use of force by the police must be "always necessary and proportionate" in individual cases.
“In this case, at least, that seems doubtful.”
It is quite possible that the matter will become politically dangerous for the senator.
He is under pressure because of several affairs.
Left-wing politician Deniz Celik, Vice President of the State Parliament, called for Grote's resignation.
After the most recent "police violence" it was shown again that the SPD man was "wrongly cast".
FC St. Pauli announced on Monday evening that "several people were injured by the operation".
According to numerous eyewitness reports and videos, the police acted ruthlessly.
They demand "clarification of the obviously disproportionate procedure".
A fan association is currently collecting memory logs from those affected.
It sounded like it wasn't just the scene on the Twitter video that was a problem from the club's point of view.
Police Deputy Mirko Streiber promised that "all allegations" would be followed up.
The bottom line, however, was that the police operation at the Derby was “a success”.
"The police have always managed to keep the two extremely hostile fan camps apart."
