Riot police clash with protesters ahead of G20 summit in Germany after they find caches of knives, baseball bats, fire bombs and gas masks

  • Authorities expect about 8,000 violent protesters to converge on Hamburg as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of 20 major advanced and developing economies, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said
  • Some 20,000 police, including armed, will be on duty while the event takes place on Friday and Saturday
  • Senior police officer Jan Hieber said police had probably only found a small proportion of the weapons

By ANTHONY JOSEPH FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

Riot police have clashed with protesters ahead of the G20 Summit in Germany after they found caches of knives, baseball bats, fire bombs and gas masks. 

Authorities expect about 8,000 violent protesters to converge on Hamburg as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of 20 major advanced and developing economies, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday. 

Some 20,000 police will be on duty while the event takes place on Friday and Saturday.

Police fight with a protester in the Schanzenviertel quarter prior the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg

Police fight with a protester in the Schanzenviertel quarter prior the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg

Authorities expect about 8,000 violent protesters to converge on Hamburg as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of 20 major advanced and developing economies, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday

Authorities expect about 8,000 violent protesters to converge on Hamburg as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of 20 major advanced and developing economies, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday

Some 20,000 police will be on duty while the event takes place on Friday and Saturday

Some 20,000 police will be on duty while the event takes place on Friday and Saturday

A couple lock lips together in front of riot police in Hamburg, Germany, as protests began ahead of the G20 summit

A couple lock lips together in front of riot police in Hamburg, Germany, as protests began ahead of the G20 summit

'There is evidence that the acts of violence around the G20 summit that we had expected and feared will take place,' said Ralf Martin Meyer, president of Hamburg's police.

Senior police officer Jan Hieber said police had probably only found a small proportion of the weapons that had been stockpiled for use in disturbances.

Police said the items found also included batons, bottles and cans presumed to be filled with flammable liquid, containers with unknown powder or chemicals, and gas masks.

De Maiziere said during a visit to Hamburg that peaceful protests were welcome and permissible in a democracy but violent demonstrators could not invoke the right to the freedom of assembly and would be suppressed.

'No demonstrator can determine whether and when and where leaders of states and governments meet in Germany upon the chancellor's invitation,' he said, stressing that the summit would not be disrupted by protests. 

Authorities expect about 8,000 violent protesters to converge on Hamburg as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of 20 major advanced and developing economies, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday

Authorities expect about 8,000 violent protesters to converge on Hamburg as Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of 20 major advanced and developing economies, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday

German riot police run towards the protesters near Schanzenviertel ahead the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

German riot police run towards the protesters near Schanzenviertel ahead the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

Dangerous items, which were confiscated by the police, are shown during a press conference at the Police headquarters before the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg

Dangerous items, which were confiscated by the police, are shown during a press conference at the Police headquarters before the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg

Senior police officer Jan Hieber said police had probably only found a small proportion of the weapons that had been stockpiled for use in disturbances. Pictured is a jammer

Senior police officer Jan Hieber said police had probably only found a small proportion of the weapons that had been stockpiled for use in disturbances. Pictured is a jammer

Police said the items found also included batons, bottles and cans presumed to be filled with flammable liquid, containers with unknown powder or chemicals, and gas masks

Police said the items found also included batons, bottles and cans presumed to be filled with flammable liquid, containers with unknown powder or chemicals, and gas masks

German riot police detain a demonstrator during a protest ahead the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

German riot police detain a demonstrator during a protest ahead the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

De Maiziere said during a visit to Hamburg that peaceful protests were welcome and permissible in a democracy but violent demonstrators could not invoke the right to the freedom of assembly and would be suppressed

De Maiziere said during a visit to Hamburg that peaceful protests were welcome and permissible in a democracy but violent demonstrators could not invoke the right to the freedom of assembly and would be suppressed

A person cycles past a water cannon near Schanzenviertel ahead the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

A person cycles past a water cannon near Schanzenviertel ahead the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany

Protesters build a blockade of a water gun in the Schanzenviertel quarter prior to the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg

Protesters build a blockade of a water gun in the Schanzenviertel quarter prior to the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg

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