200 protestors injured by German police pepper spray

Organizers of the weekend anti-austerity demonstrations in Frankfurt said at least 200 participants were injured - mostly through pepper spray deployed by police as they marched through Germany's finance capital. Several hundred people were detained during an anti-globalist march of the movement Blockupy in the German city of Frankfurt am Main. According to various sources, a second day of protests against Europe's austerity policies gathered from 7 to 20 thousand opponents of the capitalist system, opposed to the dominance of banks and ineffective economic policies. Police officials said on Sunday that twenty-one officers and only one protester were injured in the demonstrations over the weekend, but protest organizer, Blockupy, disputed the figure, saying at least 200 participants were injured - mostly through pepper spray deployed by police as they marched through Germany's finance capital. Police said 45 people were arrested during the two days. A total of 7,000 people participated in the rally in Germany's finance capital, according to police estimates. Blockupy said 20,000 had attended. Police encircled 900 protesters for hours to keep them from joining the others in the march, according to organizers. On Friday, protesters threatened to block the building of the European Central Bank, which, in their opinion, is the "epitome of evil". Europe's Blockupy movement was formed after the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. They blame the budget cuts and labor reforms supported by the ECB, the IMF and European financial and political leaders for driving the continent into a recession.