Protestors in Germany have clashed with police while attempting to stop the deportation of a much-loved immigrant from the country, reports suggest.
More than 500 demonstrators in the eastern city of Leipzig were filmed barricading a street with household furniture in a bid to stop officers removing the unnamed man.
Stones and bottles were thrown as the crowd, in the city’s Volkmarsdorf neighbourhood, chanted: “You’re stealing our neighbour.”
Eleven officers were reported to have suffered minor injuries and three vehicles damaged in the scuffles on Tuesday night – but the man, believed to be a Syrian Kurd, was eventually detained.
It is not clear if he has been removed from the country already.
Three suspects were arrested following the trouble for public disturbances and assaulting officers, although one was later released without charge.
Roland Woller, Saxony’s interior minister, condemned the violence and said he was “appalled by the anger”.
He vowed to identify all those who used violence – some of who feature on videos posted widely to social media – and bring them to justice.
