German Police Employ Pepper Spray on Protesters

German police targeted protesters who were demonstrating against a railway project with pepper spray and water cannons.

In Stuttgart, where the demonstration was taking place, organizers believed that thousands of protesters turned up; however a police spokesman put that number around 1,500 to 2,000. As a result of the large numbers, officers experienced a huge resistance by the protesters, forcing the officers to employ their water cannons and self defense spray.

Protesters at the rally even went so far as to throw stones at police.

More than 1,000 German officers were on hand to tackle the protesters, which saw a number of reported clashes with the officers leaving many people hurt.

There were many at the rally who complained that the police were guilty of utilizing too much force, and thought the actions of the officers were unjustifiable as the individuals at the protest were peaceful.

The protest which escalated Thursday against the Stuttgart 21 project, angered many protesters due to the fact that 300 trees were being cut down at the construction site. In a bid to protect the trees and to affect the process of the construction work many protesters chained themselves to the trees.

The protests that have threatened to stop Stuttgart 21, which is also one of Germany’s biggest projects, has developed into a national dilemma.

When it comes to dealing with a large group of people that need to be tackled in a quick and effective manner, pepper spray is often the ideal solution. Safe to employ, once it has been deployed it instantly effects those targeted, forcing them to stop what they are doing.

Not only that, but it doesn’t leave any lasting damage on the individual targeted, but gives officers’ enough time to apprehend those that need to be arrested.

In most cases, when it comes to demonstrations, even though they may start out as peaceful protests, there may come a time when those protesting suddenly turn violent. Because of this, the German police were equip with what they considered suitable devices to employ: pepper spray and water cannons.

And while there may be a few bruised egos as a result, there wasn’t anyone present who suffered major injuries, which could have been different if a traditional firearm was employed instead.