As expected, protests surrounding the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, turned violent last night as thousands of protesters descended on the city to disrupt the international meeting of world leaders.

160 German police officers are reported to have been injured last night, as militant activists threw bottles, lit fires, and destroyed vehicles in the streets.

https://twitter.com/OnlineMagazin/status/883312203230846976

There is no clear or unified message to the violent protests occurring in the streets, as militants from all walks of life have turned out in Hamburg to sow general chaos while the meeting takes place. There are many leaders present that have drawn particular criticisms through their leadership in their respective countries, like Donald Trump, Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. It appears that most of the violence in the street is being perpetrated by far-left militant groups who have let their intentions to stop G20 be known for weeks.

“Welcome to Hell” has been the moniker given to the general protest, said organizer Andreas Blechschmidt.

“The G20 is responsible for war, for poverty, for hunger, for the climate disaster. I think we as an anti-capitalistic global movement have no solution to fight effectively against this politics [sic]. But on the other hand, I think it’s necessary to de-legitimate summits like here in Hamburg,” He said in an interview with Perth Indymedia.

Police have planned on 100,000 protestors for the two-day G20 summit, and reported that around 13,000 protestors were out last night, with approximately 1,000 black-clad anarchists looking specifically to protest violently.

This morning it was reported that Melania Trump, along with other spouses of world leaders, was unable to leave her hotel out of security concerns after protestors blocked the exits and streets.

Violent G20 protests occur every year, as anarchists and anti-capitalist political groups use the occasion as an attempt to disrupt the gathering of the world’s most powerful economies and their leaders.

Featured image courtesy of Twitter