Policemen attacked for the first time with a chemical bomb

Gassing the German Police

By Axel Lier

During the Kreuzberg May 1 riots, the police were attacked for the first time with a novel chemical bomb. According to the police, the grenade exploded like a smoke-bomb, and then radiated a yellow, odorless smoke, that took 47 officers out of combat in just a few seconds.

Morgenpost Online was told by security circles that the grenade was hurled towards the officers near the Kottbusser Tor Subway Station. “It first went off like these rather harmless fog grenades, as known from football riots,” says a policeman. In the immediate vicinity of the officers it quickly dispersed a “yellowish, odorless smoke”. This was inhaled by a number of his colleagues.

“A few seconds later, this substance apparently caused a loss of orientation for some officers,” the policeman continued. Some were only able to crawl, others had to vomit on the spot. Because of the complicated situation it was not possible to secure the burned out shell. Later on the object — despite intensive search — remained untraceable.