Anti-WEF demo in Zurich: Hundreds of protesters wrap the company headquarters in black smoke
Hundreds of protesters shroud company headquarters in black smoke
During an unwilling demonstration in District 4 against the WEF, masked participants set off numerous fireworks, causing spray paint and damage to property.
Under the motto “The WEF against everyone, everyone against the WEF”, according to the Zurich city police, “several hundred people, some of them masked”, gathered on Helvetiaplatz on Tuesday evening to demonstrate loudly against the WEF in Davos. As with selected anti-WEF protests, the group “we don’t support the new crisis” had called for this.
After a few languages, the demo procession set off towards Langstrasse at around 7:20 p.m. with waving flags and anti-capitalist chants. Individual masked participants repeatedly set off numerous deafening firecrackers, Bengal fire, smoke bombs and flares shooting up high in the middle of the crowd.
The city police kept their distance from the unauthorized demonstration, blocked numerous cross streets to avoid dangerous situations and tried to gently steer the protesters with a police vehicle ahead.
At the level of the camp road just before the underpass, the emergency services cordoned off the road with a red and white plastic tape, and dozens of meters behind it, about ten police officers in full gear appeared on the road. The city police later announced that they had prevented the participants from entering the camp Circle 5 marched on.
The demonstrators react and dodged to the left on Schöneggstrasse. Firecrackers flew in the direction of the officers, which detonated with a loud bang. On the way, individual masked messages such as “Fight Police” sprayed on house walls and grabbed an aluminum ladder prepared along the way and several banners. In front of the office building of the auditing company KPMG on Badenerstrasse, there was another speech by a young woman who blamed KPMG, among other things, for “mass layoffs” and the “nursing shortage in many countries around the world”.
Two participants climbed the aluminum ladder onto the canopy and put up two banners on which “Hospital Privatization” and “Green Washer” are written. Then they set off two smoke bombs on the canopy to the left and right of it, which enveloped the area and the building in dense black smoke.
As the smoke cleared, numerous bags from the crowd flew against the facade. In a telegram post, the organizers wrote of a “colour attack at KPMG”. Several KPMG employees are watching what is happening on the floors above.
After a short time, the demonstrators went back towards Helvetiaplatz. The crowd stopped again at Ankerstrasse. Two messages were spray-painted on a shop and several glass bottles were broken. An employee of the Zurich transport company spoke of “major property damage”. The police did not comment on this.
The anti-WEF demo ended around 8 p.m. at the starting point, where a rocket whipped towards a stationary police car and exploded just in front of it with a loud bang.
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