Hesse's Poseck defends calling Frankfurt rioters 'predominantly of migrant background,' details 73 suspects

Hesse's interior minister, Roman Poseck, on Tuesday defended his description of the people behind the Oct. 31 riots in Frankfurt as "überwiegend migrantisch geprägt" (predominantly of migrant background). "Wenn wir die Tätergruppe nicht benennen, verschweigen wir etwas, was für Schlussfolgerungen elementar ist" (If we do not name the group of offenders, we conceal something that is essential for drawing conclusions), he told a special session of the state parliament's interior committee in Wiesbaden, hessenschau reported.

Poseck, a member of the Christian Democratic Union, also gave the committee the first detailed profile of the suspects. Of 73 people now under suspicion, 30 hold only German citizenship, 17 hold dual citizenship and 26 hold another nationality, he said. The number of suspects is still rising. He announced a "Maßnahmenbündel" (package of measures) for youth protests planned for Nov. 20, which could include conditions on the assembly and preventive custody for likely troublemakers.

The session was the first parliamentary review of a night that began as a peaceful youth march and ended in looting and attacks on police. It also reopened a national argument over whether naming the migrant background of suspects helps solve a problem or casts suspicion on millions of law-abiding residents.

What the minister told the committee#

Between 8,000 and 9,000 people marched through Frankfurt on Halloween, at first mostly peacefully, for better schools, more climate protection and against the return of military conscription, according to a dpa report carried by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Police dissolved the assembly around 6 p.m. because of violence. Serious rioting, looting and clashes with police followed.

Poseck said the violence did not start only after police ended the march. "Ausschreitungen begannen nicht erst nach Auflösung der Versammlung" (The riots did not begin only after the assembly was dissolved), he said. Six officers were hurt before the march was dissolved, one of them seriously. That officer was hit in the face by a stone thrown from the far-left block and lost three teeth, according to the minister.

Over the whole evening, 181 police officers were reported injured, and 13 are still unfit for duty, Poseck said. About 1,300 officers were deployed in the course of the night.

He gave this profile of the 73 suspects:

• About two-thirds are younger than 21, and two are under 14.
• More than half were already known to police.
• Only about a quarter live in Frankfurt itself.

Prosecutors are investigating offenses including breach of the peace, dangerous bodily harm and theft, according to the dpa report.

German only

30

Dual citizenship

17

Other nationality

26

Source: Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck to the state interior committee, via hessenschau

Show the numbers

Citizenship	Suspects
German only	30
Dual citizenship	17
Other nationality	26

By the minister's figures, 43 of the 73 suspects, or about 59 percent, hold a foreign passport or a second citizenship. The other 41 percent hold only German citizenship. The figures do not show how many of the German-only suspects have a migration background, the broader category Poseck used. Germany's federal statistics office counts people as having a migration background if they, or at least one parent, did not have German citizenship from birth. Among the 26 suspects without German citizenship are Afghans, Serbs, Tunisians and Turks, Poseck said.

The minister's defense of his words#

Poseck first used the phrase the day after the riots. "Diese Tätergruppe war überwiegend migrantisch geprägt. Und auch damit müssen wir uns auseinandersetzen" (This group of offenders was predominantly of migrant background. And we must deal with that too), he said in Frankfurt, Welt reported. "Es darf hier keine falschen Tabus geben" (There must be no false taboos here), he added.

On Tuesday he said that, taken as a whole, there was no doubt. "Die Täter waren überwiegend junge Männer mit Migrationshintergrund" (The offenders were predominantly young men with a migration background), he told the committee. He said the group must be discussed without false taboos, because otherwise targeted measures were impossible. That includes prevention and integration, he said.

He also tried to draw a line. "Wenn ich sage, die Täter haben überwiegend Migrationshintergrund, wende ich mich nicht gegen Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund, die hier leben, die uns bereichern, die Steuern zahlen und die immer zu uns gehören sollen" (When I say the offenders predominantly have a migration background, I am not turning against people with a migration background who live here, enrich us, pay taxes and should always belong to us), he said, according to the dpa report. He said he separates those who obey the law from "the few" who commit crimes.

A national argument over naming groups#

The minister was not alone in his framing. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU told Bild that "gewaltbereite linke Gruppen und Chaoten aus dem migrantischen Milieu" (violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from the migrant milieu) had hijacked the peaceful afternoon protests, Welt reported. Chancellor Friedrich Merz backed Dobrindt. His spokesman, Stefan Kornelius, said the assessment drew on "the observations of the investigating authorities and the officers on the scene," Deutsche Welle reported.

The criticism came largely from the Social Democrats, who govern with the conservatives in Berlin. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius of the SPD agreed that the rioters were criminals who attacked police. But he questioned the label. "Was sind denn migrantische Gruppen?" (What are migrant groups, then?), he asked on ZDF, according to DW. "Sind das Menschen, die in dritter Generation in Deutschland leben und deutsche Staatsangehörige sind?" (Are they people who have lived in Germany for three generations and are German citizens?) He said the debate was heading "in the wrong direction."

The federal integration commissioner, Natalie Pawlik, also of the SPD, made a similar point. "Täter sind zunächst Täter" (Offenders are offenders first), she told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Protestant news agency epd reported. She said blaming such violence on migrant milieus every time was "zu einfach" (too simple), because blanket labels also hit people with immigrant roots who marched peacefully or worked as police and paramedics that night. If investigators find that certain groups took a large part, she said, the causes must be discussed, including lack of prospects, exclusion and integration problems.

Some conservatives took a middle line. Education and Family Minister Karin Prien of the CDU said the aim was not to stir resentment but to look at reality. If the offenders come from migrant milieus, "that must worry us," she told Deutschlandfunk, according to DW.

From the right, the Alternative for Germany accused Poseck of failing to prevent the violence. Robert Lambrou, who leads the AfD group in the Hesse parliament, said the riots were an urgent call to the CDU-SPD state government "endlich bei Linksextremisten und migrantischer Gewalt besser hinzuschauen" (finally to look harder at left-wing extremists and migrant violence), Welt reported. "Es ist offensichtlich, dass es hier auch um ungelöste Probleme mit Migration geht" (It is obvious that this is also about unresolved problems with migration), he said.

About 31 percent of people in Germany have a migration background, according to federal statistics cited by DW. In Frankfurt, more than one resident in two has an immigration history.

Why lawmakers called the session#

The Greens, who are in opposition in Hesse, requested the special session two days after the riots. Vanessa Gronemann, the group's interior affairs spokeswoman, said lawmakers needed to separate the thousands of young people who had protested peacefully from those who rioted, in a statement from the Green group. She also said the committee must examine why the riots happened "trotz entsprechender Vorbereitung" (despite corresponding preparation), how far the situation escalated, and what consequences should follow.

The committee's agenda listed two urgent report requests, according to the Hesse parliament. The Greens' request covered the police operation around the "GenZ regelt" demonstrations. A second request from the Free Democrats asked about the threat assessment before the march, the police operation, prosecutions and help for people whose property was damaged.

The national youth protest movement known as "Gen Z regelt" brought tens of thousands into the streets across Germany on Oct. 31, mostly peacefully, DW reported. Violence also broke out in Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin. The organizers distanced themselves from the riots right away and reject the accusations against them, according to DW. 567 Politics covered the spread of youth protests across Europe and a CDU proposal to make rioters jointly liable for damage.

Police patrols since the riots and the Nov. 20 protests#

Since the riots, police have stepped up patrols on the Zeil, Frankfurt's main shopping street. The special unit there now runs checks every day rather than only on Fridays and Saturdays, the Hesse interior ministry said on Nov. 8. From Monday to Saturday of the first week, about 400 officers checked 945 people and 169 vehicles. They filed 31 criminal complaints, recorded 334 administrative offenses and issued 72 orders to leave the area. They also seized two knives, a telescopic baton, a gas pistol and a pepper pistol, the ministry said.

"Die Bilder vom 31. Oktober dürfen sich nicht wiederholen" (The images of Oct. 31 must not be repeated), Poseck said in that statement. "Wir überlassen die Zeil nicht Menschen, die offensichtlich ihre eigenen Regeln aufstellen" (We will not leave the Zeil to people who obviously make their own rules), he said.

The next test comes on Nov. 20, when new youth protests are planned. Earlier this month, Poseck raised the possibility of banning further Gen Z marches, DW reported. The right of assembly is a high good, he said, but peacefulness is just as essential, and "the organizers do not have these assemblies under control." On Tuesday he spoke of a package of measures instead. Preventive custody, one of the options he named, means holding likely participants before an assembly to stop a serious disruption, hessenschau explained.

1. Oct. 31, 2026Youth march in Frankfurt is dissolved around 6 p.m.; rioting and looting follow
2. Nov. 1, 2026Poseck calls the group of offenders "predominantly of migrant background"
3. Nov. 2, 2026Hesse Greens request a special interior committee session; Pawlik calls the label "too simple"
4. Nov. 8, 2026Interior ministry reports 945 people checked on the Zeil in one week
5. Nov. 10, 2026Poseck defends his words and gives the committee a profile of 73 suspects
6. Nov. 20, 2026New youth protests planned

Sources were reviewed on Nov. 10, 2026. German quotations were translated by 567 Politics staff.

Differing perspectives

Should officials describe the Frankfurt rioters by their migration background?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Avoid blanket labels and look at causes

  Who holds it: Federal Integration Commissioner Natalie Pawlik (SPD) and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD)

  Pawlik argues that offenders are offenders first and that blaming such violence on migrant milieus every time is too simple. Blanket labels also hit people with immigrant roots who marched peacefully or served that night as police officers and paramedics. If investigations show some groups took a large part, she says, the debate should turn to causes such as lack of prospects, exclusion and integration problems, alongside clear criminal penalties for every act of violence.

  In their words: evangelisch.de (epd) ↗

• Blame the state government's migration record

  Who holds it: Robert Lambrou and the AfD group in the Hesse state parliament

  The AfD argues that the riots show the CDU-SPD state government failed to prevent what it calls "French conditions" in Frankfurt. Lambrou says the violence is an urgent call for the government to look much harder at what he calls "left-wing extremists and migrant violence," and that it is obvious the events also reflect unresolved problems with migration. In this view, the minister's description came only after the state had already failed to act on a known risk.

  In their words: Welt ↗

• Name the group to target measures

  Who holds it: Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU), Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), backed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz

  Poseck argues that leaving out the background of the offenders would conceal something essential for drawing conclusions. In his view, the suspects were mostly young men with a migration background, and only open discussion without false taboos allows targeted prevention, integration and policing measures. He says this does not turn against the many people with a migration background who obey the law, pay taxes and belong in Germany, and that the distinction protects them.

  In their words: hessenschau (Hessischer Rundfunk) ↗

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