Guido, the Hotel had no bank underneath it, I saw the kids start to smash it up, whilst it was fair enough to burn the border control, the kids in the Black Bloc need to stop being such a bunch of idiots, burning a hotel and a local chemist right next to working class housing is not big or clever.

I also saw Black Bloc put in the window of a car that someone was driving in, pleading with them not to, again this wasn't a rich guy in a Mercedes but a cheap saloon car.

If the Black Bloc is a strategy they need to start using their brains, as the rest of the demo left the field because the Black Bloc had brought the Police into it, we were all going out under a tight enclosed bridge space, the CRS then decided to drive 4 riot vans through the demo to get into the field that we were trying to leave, as they did this the Black Bloc pelted the vans (and the marches around the vans) with rocks, how someone didn't get seriously hurt I will never know–total morons! This too lead to more teargas for everyone…then we were trapped between two rows of CRS with Black Bloc having pathetic fights with them meaning the whole demo getting continually gassed…wow well done guys thanks a lot!

Then they trashed a post office and a factory…absolute idiots…

Noel: Its a fact that by the time members of the black block started trying to smash up the Post Office it had been infiltrated by the CRS, because I saw with my own eyes that every single black blockist participating in that particular activity was wearing CRS-issue boots and at least one CRS-issue gloves as well, so its likely that every pharmacy, every bus stop, every bystander, every innocent target attacked by the black block was the work of the infiltrators.

Also, dear god I hope there was nobody in that hotel, or at least if there was I hope they were all the enemy and no innocents. Can anyone shed any light on why that hotel was targetted? I heard a rumour that it had been barred to civilians because it was being used as a staging post for the CRS personnel shipped in from other cities, but I'm fairly sure that was just speculation...

[NB: delete my previous comment if possible - wrong article <_<]

To concur with Noel it seems that what I was told after seeing the remains of the Ibis was incorrect. The ground floor was a bar which was looted and then some genius set the curtains on fire. To be honest even if it had been the European HQ of McDonalds; setting light to a place where people might be staying above is the height of stupidity. It also occurs to me that if government buildings and big businesses have sprinklers fitted as a condition of insurance. Then shouldn't hotel chains which are worth billions and responsible for peoples safety be made to do the same?

"Kaze no Kae" wrote :

" so its likely that every pharmacy, every bus stop, every bystander, every innocent target attacked by the black block was the work of the infiltrators. "

This is completely ridiculous. Yes there is some organised black block who act strategicaly and pick their targets, but having spent one week at the camp in Strasbourg I can tell you there were a lot of non-organised black block people who just wanted to have a riot - and trash what they could.

Infiltrators ? Of course there were some. But blaming everything on the police is just silly. There is a big problem within the black block, and the organised parts of it must really think through what happened at Strasbourg.

on our way back we heard in the radio about the inflaming of the hotel THAT IS ACRIME OF STUPID IDIOTS
we had a nice blockade all day long till this assholes start to action
LEAVE US ALONE RIOT TOURISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It spoiled the whole action

crybabies, they spoiled your barricade!