'World Is Going To Sh*t:' Zurich Descends Into Street Clashes In One Of Europe's Unlikeliest Flashpoints

Burning barricades, water cannon and rubber shot marked a violent Halloween night in Zurich's nightlife district, where masked participants clashed with police in a city better known for its banks and its calm.

Bins, e-bikes and a car were set alight in District 4 as several hundred people, some in costume and others masked and dressed in black, gathered among partygoers and officers were pelted with fireworks, bottles and stones.

The organisers reportedly drew inspiration from unrest in France. Online, footage of the clashes drew disbelief that Switzerland, of all places, was on fire.

Halloween Night Turns Violent

Crowds began gathering at about 10.30pm on Saturday 31 October at Piazza Cella on Langstrasse, mixing with partygoers in the heart of Zurich's District 4, known locally as Kreis 4, officials in Zurich said in a statement. Some wore masks and goggles, while others were dressed for Halloween.

At around 11pm, the crowd moved along Langstrasse towards Helvetiaplatz. Rubbish containers were pushed into the road and set alight at the junction of Langstrasse and Stauffacherstrasse, and containers, e-bikes and e-scooters were burned at other locations. A car was set on fire on Zwinglistrasse.

Windows were smashed at the Stauffacher tram stop and at shops near Helvetiaplatz. The city described the crowd as a 'violence-prone mob' and said its officers were repeatedly attacked with pyrotechnics, bottles and stones.

A Keystone-SDA reporter at the scene described the atmosphere as tense and said police were using water cannon from two sides, Bluewin reported. Many protesters who had arrived in costume later appeared dressed in black with their faces covered.

Water Cannon, Rubber Shot and Tear Gas

Zurich city police used water cannon to push the crowd back and fired irritant gas and rubber shot, with the cantonal police called in as reinforcements. Firefighters from Schutz & Rettung Zürich were sent to put out the fires. The city said large numbers of onlookers made the operation harder.

In one incident, a police patrol responding to a medical emergency on Brauerstrasse shortly after midnight was attacked by a mob. The patrol car was damaged, and officers had to withdraw before they could reach a teenager with serious leg injuries from an accident, according to the city.

Cantonal police arrested two Swiss men, aged 19 and 21, who were carrying gloves containing quartz sand and face coverings, Nau.ch reported.

A police spokesperson told Keystone-SDA the gloves count as weapons because they increase the force of a blow. Police said officers caught the pair gathering objects at a construction site, allegedly to throw at officers later. Authorities also issued 18 expulsion orders.

Nau.ch also reported similar unrest in Basel and Bern on the same evening. The situation calmed at around 1.30am, according to the city. Zurich police have opened an investigation, and the city says the total damage has not yet been calculated. 20 Minuten separately cited early estimates of tens of thousands of Swiss francs.

'Come Dressed Up, Come Protected'

The calls to gather were posted on social media and niche websites following events in France, the city said. 20 Minuten reported that far-left groups used the slogan 'On en a marre', French for 'We've had enough'.

According to 20 Minuten, the call urged people to 'come dressed up, come protected' and to bring goggles and disguises. It cited opposition to genocide in Gaza, war, the police and rising fascism, named sabotage as a form of action and ended with 'Vive l'insurrection'.

According to 20 Minuten, the organisers modelled the action on demonstrations and riots in Paris and other French cities, where protests that began over school conditions have widened into a movement against inequality and the rising cost of living.

On 17 October, protests in France escalated into some of the country's most violent unrest in years, with the interior minister later reporting more than 2,000 arrests, Reuters reported. On 31 October, the French interior ministry counted about 320,000 protesters nationwide, 20 Minuten reported.

20 Minuten described the Zurich demonstration as coming from the left-wing extremist milieu, a label that refers to its organisers rather than everyone who was on the streets. Nau.ch said the demonstration was not authorised.

Bar Owner Caught in the Chaos

For people out for a night on Langstrasse, the clashes arrived without warning. Ross Taylor, co-owner of Flux Bar, was hosting a large anniversary party when he saw masked people stealing the bar's rubbish bins shortly before 12.30am and trying to set them alight, 20 Minuten reported.

He ran outside and rescued four of them. A masked person told him the city would replace them, but Taylor said the bar could not wait that long. When police arrived with the water cannon, the mix of water and tear gas made it hard to see, and guests crowded into the building and stairwell.

'The police approach was quite dangerous,' Taylor said. He had harsher words for the rioters, who he said damaged public property and filmed themselves for an 'ego boost'. 'This rage for destruction is completely out of place,' he said.

Footage of the clashes also spread online, often framed as a shock for one of Europe's most orderly countries. 'You know the world is going to sh*t when THERE ARE PROTESTS IN SWITZERLAND. Make a wish,' one X user wrote in Spanish, in a post viewed more than 740,000 times.