Rioting Youths in Baden-Württemberg

A German news account of a culturally enriched courtroom incident involving “youths” has been translated by JLH. The translator includes this comment:

This one has a familiar sound: bloodthirsty gang-bangers on their own “turf” — Crips and Bloods, the Puerto Ricans and whites romanticized in West Side Story, more recently various Latin American gangs. I wouldn’t want to meet them in a dark alley, but they don’t seem so alien and ominous to me as hate-preaching imams, jihadis with suicide vests, or families that think they have a right to beat, mutilate and execute their girls and women.

And the translated article from the German newsmagazine ZUERST!:

Riot in District Court

February 8, 2010

On January 14, there was a tumultuous scene at the district court in Geislingen (Baden-Württemberg). Judge Reinhard Wegener even had to call for police help. During the closed-session trial of 15 youths (15 to 17 years old) “of predominantly Turkish extraction” who were charged with grievous bodily injury, a group of 40 youths “of predominantly Turkish extraction” collected in the corridor and in front of the door to the court, “to intimidate or threaten” witnesses, as the Sudwestpresse reports. The defendants are said to have been involved in a brawl between rival gangs, in the course of which people and one car were beaten with baseball bats. Shortly after, when a “payback” was arranged, police were on the scene and prevented a second rumble. Their investigation concerned “forming an armed group.” According to the Sudwestpresse, the 40 young Turks who gathered in front of the courthouse were “such a massive group that the witnesses did not dare to enter the building or leave the courtroom.”

For fully two years, the paper continues, youths “who have been the object of efforts at integration by the municipality,” have been clashing repeatedly in the area of Geislingen.

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In most cases, perpetrators and victims belonged to the different [warring] groups, but in isolated instances innocent bystanders were also beaten. According to police, often the mere appearance of others causes provocative behavior. The municipal office of public order ascribes the clashes to “common national customs, alcohol and pugnacity.” The large number of immigrants in the local population assures that the pedestrian zones after the close of business are in their control. “Showing off, loud music and attempts to ‘pick up’ women are chilling and disturb a sense of personal security.”

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.