Anti-capitalist activists marched through a German Alpine town to protest world leaders convened by Chancellor Angela Merkel, scuffling with police who responded with batons and pepper spray.
About 3,600 protesters descended on Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday on the eve of the Group of Seven summit, where Merkel is hosting President Barack Obama and other leaders of advanced economies at a luxury hotel under Germany’s highest peaks for two days of talks. Protesters plan to march Sunday toward Schloss Elmau, the blocked-off summit venue set in a secluded valley.
With riot police from across Germany deployed to Garmisch, the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics under Adolf Hitler, fewer than the 10,000 people expected by police showed up Saturday in heat that topped 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius). Marchers carried banners denouncing capitalism, racism and fossil fuels.
“G-7 means war,” another banner said.