German minister under fire for blaming 'migrant troublemakers' for riots

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt faced sharp criticism Monday from coalition partners and opposition lawmakers after blaming "migrant troublemakers" for riots that erupted following largely peaceful youth demonstrations across the country.

Dobrindt defends police response

Dobrindt, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), told the Bild newspaper that such groups had hijacked Saturday's peaceful daytime protests organized by the "Gen Z regelt" initiative. "The rioters and looters will be identified and held accountable. Hard penalties must follow this breach of the peace," he said, praising police for preventing "violent excesses like those in Paris."

Coalition rifts emerge

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a Social Democrat, distanced himself from the comments in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF, warning against generalizations about migrants and stressing that the violence was the work of criminals and extremists. "What exactly are migrant groups? Does this include people who have been living in Germany for three generations and are German citizens? At what point do we stop making such distinctions?" he said. "I believe this is heading in the wrong direction."

Opposition warns of racism

Clara Buenger, the opposition Left Party's spokesperson on interior affairs, described Dobrindt's focus on the origins of suspected perpetrators as "intolerable" and accused him of fueling far-right sentiment. "With his statements he is feeding racist resentments, and doing so despite knowing better," she said. Criminological research has long shown that crime is shaped by various social and individual factors and "cannot simply be explained by a person's origin," she stressed.

Weekend unrest

The controversy followed demonstrations organized Saturday by the "Gen Z regelt" initiative in more than 30 German cities. Evening unrest then broke out in several cities, most severely in Frankfurt, where barricades were set alight, shops — including a weapons store — were damaged or looted, and officers faced attacks. Authorities indicated that many of the evening actors showed limited clear political motivation and may have imitated images of looting from France.