Police in the Czech Republic battled with 500 right-wing protesters who were trying to attack a Roma community with Molotov cocktails, machetes and pitch forks. The incident is part of a rise in violence by neo-Nazis in the country. The riot took place in the town of Litvinov, northwest of Prague. The estimated 500 members of the far-right Workers' Party had gathered for a march in the town before suddenly turning off the approved route toward Janov, a section of the town with a large Gypsy community. Their progress was blocked by an estimated 1,000 police officers, who were also seeking to contain an estimated 300 Roma men gathered to defend their community, many armed with sticks and knives, according to local media reports. "The police tried to get the demonstrators back to the planned march route, but the protestors started throwing flaming bottles," a police spokeswoman told the BBC.
Reports from the scene paint a chaotic picture of black-hooded protestors chanting racist slogans while hurling cobblestones, fireworks and Molotov cocktails at police and setting at least one police vehicle on fire. On the other side, police officers in heavy riot gear, on horseback and in armored personnel carriers used batons, tear gas and water cannons to maintain a wedge between the two sides. "We discovered weapons - sticks, guns, pitchforks, machetes and other things - in the cars of extremists and also Roma people," police spokesman Vladimir Danyluk told the Reuters news agency. In the end, the rioting left seven demonstrators and seven police officers injured, according to the Czech News Agency CTK. Police also arrested 15 protesters.
Earlier this year, the Czech Republic's Interior Ministry officially labeled the Workers' Party an extremist group, and the Czech government is currently attempting to disband it. The violence heightens fears in Europe of both far-right and anti-minority violence as it follows similar trends in other EU countries.
