Apologies for the gratuitous plug... wait, no apologies
Posted on 06/24/2006 1:46:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin
STUTTGART (Reuters) - Riot police detained a group of around 100 rowdy England soccer fans in a square in the center of Stuttgart on Saturday after they had clashed with German fans, throwing bottles and chairs and trading punches.
Tens of thousands of English and German fans had gathered in the area, many drinking throughout the day, to watch Germany's 2-0 second-round World Cup win over Sweden on big screen TVs. Trouble broke out shortly after the end of the game.
England fans were in the city for their country's second-round match against Ecuador on Sunday.
Some 150 fans on both sides threw bottles and chairs before riot police moved into the area to separate them.
After an uneasy standoff and a brief lull, the two sets of fans again threw glass bottles at each other, prompting the riot police to move the German fans out of the area.
They then moved in to arrest the English supporters.
"Most of them will be arrested, because it's like a theater here, and if we don't arrest them there'll be trouble here all night," Stuttgart police spokesman Stefan Kielbach told reporters.
He said the trouble had been started by both sets of fans. Some German supporters were also seen being dragged away by riot police while one German man left the area with blood on his face.
VIOLENT HISTORY
The English have a long history of soccer-related violence but there has been little trouble in Germany so far, with only a small number of arrests for mostly drunken behavior or people trying to get into a stadium without a ticket.
However 122 people were detained in Stuttgart on Friday night for drunken and aggressive behavior and they are expected to be held until the game on Sunday has been played.
Under German law police can detain individuals for threatening behavior or if they suspect they are likely to commit a crime and it does not constitute a full arrest.
Earlier, Germany had beaten Sweden in Munich to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
More proof that soccer fans could beat up the athletes.
For me, the difference I see between British and American football fans is that the Americans will turn over a car or something. I don't think we see as much of the brutal, fan-on-fan violence that they have at these big soccer games.
Another dumb thing about soccer. If there's one sport where a poor team could beat a good one on any given day, it's soccer. Lucky skull placement on a corner-kick and you're moving to the next round...
Actually, the German guy is on the left with the tattoos; the skinny English (sunburnt) guy on the right is holding the flag.
And it looks more like a palm-slap than a punch?
They used have group play after the first round but that changed after 1978 or 1982.
"the difference I see between British and American football fans is that the Americans will turn over a car or something. I don't think we see as much of the brutal, fan-on-fan violence that they have at these big soccer games."
It really doesn't happen at British football games anymore either (certainly not inside the stadia). In the early 1980s maybe. This is partly due to better policing and security and partly due to demographics. The average football fan attending games in, say, 1983, was very much young white working class male. At the same game now you would see a major wider range in terms of age, sex, ethnicity and background.
I'd guess also most sporting events in the US don't have the same proportion of visiting fans as those in the UK for simple reason of the distances to travel being far greater.
Wow! Fights at European soccer matches. This is series!
Yes, those are something else. They wear the badge hooligan with pride. :)
I got a bazillion pop ups on that site!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry. I have a pop-up blocker that keeps me from even seeing them.
A stupid, pussy sport for losers who are aggravated that they haven't achieved anything in life, who lash out when "their" team doesn't win for them.
Believe me, this will only get worse.
Not by their hair it would seem..
Huh? Why that? Where´s the difference in our crime statistics? Police reports in its annual statistics each crime committed AND reported to them. I hope the US does that, too. Yesterday, we had several dozens cases of actual body harm and material damage - and these will surely be considered in the next crime statistics.
Prostitution is a punishable offence for all involved in the US, in Germany? The Police actually pursue and the courts punish people for offenses involving Marijuana or Hashish, in Germany? What is the drinking age in Germany, in many places in the US it's 21. Take a guess what kind of offences comprises a major portion of the US statistics? Here are some other things to think about. Get into your car in the US on a Saturday night and drive a little under the speed limit downtown, see how long it takes before some COP has you blowing into a straw. Does the US really have more DUI's and DWI's or do we just look harder?
The difference is that when some Moroccans peddle Hash in broad daylight in Frankfurt at the Zeil shopping area, the Polizei will actually walk by and pretend they saw nothing, in most places in the US, that Moroccan would have his face in the dirt and be part of a horrible US crime statistic.
I don't think that when it comes to "serial killers" or other freaks the US is any better off, but much of the over all crime in US cities involves prostitution, drugs, driving under the influence and under age drinking. When Germany has a legal drinking age of 16, prostitution is legal and many of the so called recreational drugs are over looked, you don't get less crime because there is less of this going on, it's just not reported.
There is also a matter of definitions (http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,1607,7-124-5453_5529_7148-20202--,00.html ). No joke, file false tax claims and you might end up as a federal registered felon (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=153948,00.html ). Things where the Germans might slap a little fine on you might end you in prison in the US when it comes to taxes. Perjury, as Bill Clinton committed ends up causing people to go to jail, how often does that “really” happen in Germany, even though Meineid is on the book? Define what constitutes a felony and what a misdemeanor? The US automatically considers any bust where over a certain amount of drugs are present as a drug trafficking offense.
Finally there are some other "minor" statistical considerations that need to be considered. The US has 281,000,000 people plus the territories and 11,000,000 illegal aliens. NYC has over 8 million inhabitants (http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=57 ), Berlin not even 3.4 million. Comparing the total number of crimes committed of a population group that is 4 times the size of Germany or a city like Frankfurt with a 1/10th the population of NYC and stating we have more crime is kind of a farce.
Real world example: Arizona. Phoenix calls for a first conviction minimum sentence of 15 consecutive days in prison up to six months and a fine not to exceed $2500. For a 2nd conviction the minimum is 30 consecutive days in prison up to six months and up to the same $2500 fine). In Germany the Prostitute gets a retirement if she works at it long enough. See a difference?
Texas: Possession of the smallest amount of marijuana carries an automatic minimum prison sentence and a felony record. Egal wie wenig, das erste mal und du sitzts.
The effectiveness, morality or economics of the way the US does things can be debated and that’s a whole other issue. But the US is compared to Germany draconian. For example: The prison populations exploded when the three strike rule was passed. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/28/60II/main527248.shtml Das ist nicht erfunden! Drei mal wegen video Kasseten klau und er bekommt automatich 25 Jahre. Ich bin in dieser Hinsicht ja selbst nicht 100% ueberzeugt das dies der betse weg ist. Aber so ist es halt, und dies beeinflusst wie viele im Gefaehgniss sitzen. Wenn man fuer alles gleich jeden einsperrt wirt die Gefaehgniss Bevoelkerung sehr gross und ein Vergleich mit Deutschland in wie viele inhaftierte man hat, heist nicht das da mehr Kriminalitaet ist.
That's not insulting Germany, it's just a matter of how statistics are computed, what the laws and definitions are, the relative population sizes etc. We have our fair share of whacko's, but the German has a bit of a "stereotyped" picture.
LOL, you ain´t trying to paint the US as a peaceful country without violence, are you? We are not talking about differences in rating a certain behaviour. We are talking about crimes that are a crime in the US and in Germany, such as murder, manslaughter, assault, etc.
Check out www.nationmaster.com
Just compare that:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_ass_percap-crime-assaults-per-capita
And please take refrain from allegations that we manipulate our statistics.
Nobody says that the Americans are in general a more criminal nation, but it is true that the comparative number of crimes against life and the physical integrity of the body is significantly higher in the States than in Europe.
> "Take that, Schnitzelsucker!"
Yeah, pretty brutal how he slaps the Schnitzelsucker's palm with his jaw.
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