'A gang of about 50 masked left-wing extremists on bicycles torched or trashed nearly 50 luxury cars over the weekend in attacks to protest gentrification of the once-low-rent districts near the center of the German capital.
The attacks just after midnight on Saturday and Sunday mornings caused an estimated $1.1 million in damage and left behind the smoldering remains of 48 Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches. Some of the masked attackers smashed the windows of the cars; others threw plastic containers with flammable materials through the broken windows.
“We're not going to let this left-wing mob take over our streets,” said Berlin's Interior Minister, Frank Henkel, who vowed the city would do everything in its power to stop the “street terror” before the arsonists struck again. “The horrifying images show that these left-wing anarchists are bent on destruction and have no respect for private property.”
There have been isolated cases in the past of expensive cars being set on fire in Berlin, a city with a thriving counterculture where rents were once extremely low. They have been rising steadily in recent years, and the attacks on cars — about 250 are set on fire each year — are seen as political statements against gentrification.'
"Social Democratic People’s Bicycle Commando" indeed.
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-cars-20160207-story.html
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