Up to 3,700 police were on duty at one time to clear the German settlement of Lützerath for lignite mining. This emerges from a report by the Ministry of the Interior of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia to the state parliament.
Most employees were on duty on Friday. On Saturday, when there were riots on the sidelines of the demonstration against the eviction, there were 3,300 people.
Burning barricades had already been erected prior to the evacuation. Pyrotechnics, paint bags and rocks were hurled in the direction of police and RWE officials. 372 people would have left Lützerath voluntarily, 159 would have had to be taken away by the police.
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At Saturday’s demonstration, several thousand demonstrators left the approved demonstration route and headed towards Lützerath. Attempts to break through police lines to Lützerath were thwarted with batons and water cannons. Water cannons were used only with the “rain” function, there were no water jets directed at the disruptors.
The North Rhine-Westphalia police were supported by forces from almost all federal states and the federal government. Statistical recording of criminal charges, arrests and pre-trial detentions is still ongoing. NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) reported 180 criminal charges on Monday.