Rocket fire, riots and burning garbage cans in Berlin: the police give new details about the suspects

Created: 01/04/2023, 16:10

By: Patrick Freiwah

A burnt-out coach is parked in front of a damaged residential building in Berlin's Neukölln district after riots on New Year's Eve.

© Fabian Sommer / dpa

The riots on New Year's Eve in Berlin throw large parts of Germany into turmoil.

The police are now publishing details about the suspects - and their nationalities.

Berlin - Missiles flying sideways, burning garbage cans and electric scooters - and emergency services injured as a result of attacks: In the capital and in many other areas of Germany there were massive riots on New Year's Eve 2023, which caused an uproar among the public, emergency services, the media and thus also politics .

After the New Year's riots in Berlin, the police have now published information about the suspects who allegedly turned the New Year's Eve into an excess of violence.

When asked, the authorities said that 145 people had been arrested in connection with the riots at various locations in the capital (including in the Neukölln district).

However, they were all released.

New Year's Eve riots in Berlin: 18 different citizenships

In the group of suspects, which according to police information consists of 18 different nationalities, there were initially erroneous double counts, but the number of people has now been reduced from 159.

45 of the people have German citizenship, 27 have an Afghan passport and 21 suspected rioters come from Syria.

These are the largest individual groups, and five percent of those arrested are women and the rest are men.

After the incidents in Berlin became known, there was criticism, especially from the Union.

According to Bavaria's head of state, the location of the state's political leadership has developed into a "chaotic city".

Berlin: 355 procedures because of New Year's Eve - riots heat up the integration debate

Due to the New Year's Eve riots in Berlin, 355 procedures have now been initiated - e.g.

for breach of the peace, arson offences, resistance against law enforcement officers and dangerous bodily harm.

According to the Berlin police, the respective age of the arrested persons is still being evaluated. 

On New Year's Eve, emergency and rescue services were sometimes massively attacked.

In some cases, the police had to be deployed to protect firefighters from attacks while they were putting out fires.

In the capital alone, 33 emergency services were injured.

The riots on New Year's Eve, which were noted in other cities in Germany besides Berlin, inevitably (re)ignited a debate about the migration policy of recent years (commentary).