1. Based on various news sources, it's safe to say that two protest groups arrived in Hamburg. One was committed to normal and regular protest action, without any violence. The other....committed to absolute violence. Most news sources also suggest that this was an international group of violent individuals....from across Europe. There may have been some core members of the Hamburg revolutionary folks.....but the rest were 'guests' of theirs. The odds of the peaceful core and the violent core having a cooperative nature? I think both groups know each other in an intimate nature.
2. The political folks for the past two years, had anticipated this 'grand' moment for not just Germany, but for Hamburg. This G-20 conference would have been some 'crown'. Instead, the political folks are stumbling around and trying to hype the conference when the public in Germany, and the international viewers.....see just the violent accomplishments of the revolutionary crowd.
3. There are some accusations directed toward the mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz (SPD). With roughly three years to prepare the city for the conference, it's generally felt that the security plan failed miserably. The general hint I would give.....when you started to see one year out.....a plan by the protest crowd, referred to as "Welcome to Hell"....there probably should have been an outside review and more cops requested (they had with the Hamburg cops and requested support....almost 20,000 police assigned). My personal view is that at least another 10,000 cops probably needed to be in the mix.
4. After the first night of violence, there probably should have been a curfew established and anyone dressed in black should have been detained for 12 hours.
5. It is amazing to the amount of enthusiasm in which political figures noted that people had the right to protest. I probably saw at least 20 different political or journalist individuals note this right.
6. There is some suggestion now (Sunday morning) that the government should equate the violent revolutionary types to the status level of terrorists or extreme-right-wing. The anti-migrant crowd might have some home or building burning episodes to it's credit. Even for the soccer hooligans....you rarely see property destruction. I would imagine this will be discussed for weeks,and come the fall period back in the Bundestag....they will announce a new status.
7. The odds of Hamburg residents ever accepting a high-level event like this where it might attract revolutionary warfare? Zero chance over the next twenty years. Most everyone will remember this for a long time. I would suggest that most all German cities have viewed this in a negative fashion.
8. Oddly, this would have been a hyped up political forum episode....with Putin, Erdogan, and Trump as the most talked about negatives of the G-20. Half-way through the Summit, the journalists were stuck.....they had to show video of the violence and spend a lot of time covering it.....rather than the Summit itself. Last night for the late news on public TV (ARD, ZDF)....at least 50 to 70 percent of the Hamburg 'chat' was about the violence.
9. As much as the peaceful core of the protest movement hyped up their climate change talk to journalists.....you then sat and viewed hours of video feed where toxic fumes from cars were going up into the air of Hamburg, and burnt cars lay there on the streets. None of these individuals had any concern over the environment.
10. The cost of damages? There is some suggestion by Chancellor Merkel that the federal government will cover damages, although they were quick to hype up that car insurance should cover all of the burnt cars. My humble guess is that Hamburg will probably try to set up a 'truth-commission' to assess what happened and the method of handing out money. Frankly, I wouldn't hold my breath on this damage-fund deal.....if it does occur, you won't see the money for at least six months. Maybe I'm wrong about it.
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