‘Nobody can stop them’: Who are Europe’s Black Bloc protesters?

Anarchistic activists who dress in black and clash with police are a regular feature of protests, from France to Albania. From France and Italy to Spain and Albania, a regular feature of European protest movements has been the presence of a few hundred young people fully dressed in black, often engaged in physical violence with law enforcement.

They have been seen smashing public and private property and setting fire to cars and buildings, and are accused of break-ins and stealing consumer goods – anything from food to jewellery. Known as the “Black Bloc”, they have aggressive energy that can upend otherwise peaceful demonstrations by student groups and professional unions.

While some say they bring attention to social, political, and economic inequalities, others condemn their violent methods, saying they distract from protesters’ legitimate demands. “The movement started in the 1980s in Germany and came from a social movement called autonomia, or autonomy,” political science professor Francis Dupuis-Deri, at the University of Quebec in Montreal, told Al Jazeera.