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

Groups of a few hundred young people dressed in black regularly appear at protests across Europe, from France and Italy to Spain and Albania. Accused of damaging property, setting fire to vehicles and buildings, and clashing with police, Black Bloc protesters can turn otherwise peaceful demonstrations violent. Political scientist Francis Dupuis-Déri traces the movement to Germany’s 1980s autonomy movement, whose anarchists opposed the state, capitalism, political parties and unions. Their clothing—including leather jackets, hoodies, helmets and bandanas—helps prevent police identification, and the movement has no leadership or spokesperson.