Police use tear gas at Christiania

At the conclusion of yesterday’s large-scale action, mask-wearing instigators threw bottles at the police

Nov 6, 2013

Yesterday’s police action at Christiania resulted in the use of tear gas and the confiscation of a large amount of cannabis.

Copenhagen Police raided Christiania yesterday afternoon and report that officers confiscated 16.7 kg of hash, 2.4kg of marijuana, nearly 1,600 joints and over 100,000 kroner in cash.

Following the roughly hour-long police action, officers were confronted by a group of masked individuals as they left the freetown. According to the police, the individuals threw bottles and other material at officers, hitting one in the helmet. Police employed tear gas in order to secure their retreat from the area.

The police do not think that those who attacked them were Christiania residents.

“Several local Christianites actually attempted to stop the masked troublemakers’ attack against the police,” Poul Kjeldsen, the head of Task Force Pusherstreet, told DR Nyheder.

Police reported that four arrests were made. Three individuals were arrested on charges of selling cannabis and have been released from custody. The fourth is still being held due to being wanted on previous charges and tax offences.

“After a day in which we unfortunately had to employ tear gas against some outside agitators, the confiscations were nevertheless yet another step in coming to grips with Pusher Street’s open cannabis trade,” Kjeldsen said in a press release.

Police say that yesterday’s action, which involved an estimated 30 officers, was the first time in over a year in which they were forced to use tear gas and characterised it as “very frustrating”.