“Black Bloc” Rioters: Who Are They And Can They Be Stopped?

A similar version of this article originally appeared on Al-Jazeera and on Peyman Pejman's personal Substack column.

From Albania to France and Italy to Spain, a distinctive component of the recent protest movements in various European cities has been the presence of a few hundred young people fully attired in black, often engaged in physical violence with law enforcement.

They also have been involved in repeated cases of smashing public and private property, setting fire to cars and buildings, as well as breaking into and stealing consumer goods –anything from food to jewelry.

Known as the Black Blocs, their involvement in otherwise-peaceful demonstrations by student groups and professional unions has both raised attention to various social, political, and economic inequalities and elevated concerns that their violent methods are distracting from legitimate demands.

That dichotomy has also widened the rift between politicians and protest organizers, on one hand, who prefer not to discuss the presence of Black Blocs in order not to dilute attention from their cause, and law enforcement and governments, on the other, who point to the violence as a delegitimizing factor in dealing with protest demands.

A clear example of the dilemma can be seen in the reactions in France, which has seen both the largest student and union demonstrations and the largest number of violent and property destruction.

When asked for comments, the office of a Far-Left French member of European Parliament, who party has been organizing and supporting many of the recent nationwide protests, brushed off the request, saying it was too sensitive.

“This type of things like a few cases of violence is used by the government to criminalize our movement and our party so we don’t want to enter the strategy of speaking abut it,” said the person who was not authorized to speak officially on behalf of his elected official.

Italy, too, has witnessed several recent instances of violence in Rome, Milan, and Turin, with black-clad protestors fighting police, setting trash bins and cars on fire, in some cases leading to extensive property damages and personal injuries.

“Frankly, I’m not aware of any movement inspired by the Black Blocs. In Milan, there have been incidents of looting and vandalism, and those responsible appear to have been very young, many of them minors,” says Mario Furore, an Italian member of European Parliament from the 5-Star movement.

“To me, this looks more like copycat behaviour and the influence of bad role models than the work of an organised network. However, it will be up to the judicial authorities investigating the incidents to establish the facts,” he adds.

His “copycat” point is supported by facts in that Black Blocs are not a homogenic or organised movement with any known leadership or structure. It is also politically somewhat irrelevant because governments and law enforcement groups associate the groups with social protests, whether they are copycats or genuine Black Blocs.

Speaking at the parliament in January, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez referenced the Black Blocs directly, saying, “Today, at every social demonstration of any significant size, we find Black Blocs who come to smash things and attack the internal security forces.”

Politicians in Germany and Italy also have made recent references to violent demonstrators, without mentioning Black Blocs. But the absence is public statements should not be equated with their lack of knowledge about the existence or tactics of Black Blocs.

A 2023 Italian government document, titled, Quarterly Journal of the School of Advanced Training for Police Forces,addresses the group, its aims, and tactics.

“With the aim of inciting vandalism and violence by infiltrating—and subsequently radicalizing—demonstrations, the 1980s also saw the consolidation of a persistent anarcho-insurrectionist tactic: the use of small, loosely organized groups known as the “black bloc,” the document said.

It added, “Their modus operandi includes, among other things: conducting reconnaissance of target locations well in advance of the planned unrest; dividing these areas into sectors assigned to specific teams; executing diversionary tactics—carried out by one or more teams—to draw the attention of law enforcement away from other groups, which are then free to carry out disruptive or destructive acts; and maintaining a high degree of mobility to maximize potential damage while minimizing the risk of the activists being arrested.”

Political Science Prof. Francis Dupuis-Deri, from the University of Quebec in Montreal, who has published a book on Black Blocs, says it would be wrong to associate the group, with any political ideology, Left or Right. There are documented cases of Right-wing nationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Poland and Germany using Black Bloc attire and violent tactics, although not in recent years.

“The movement started in the 1980s in Germany and came from a social movement called autonomia, or autonomy; they were against the state, capitalism, political parties, even communists and unions. They were more or less anarchists. They believe in living outside the system,” says Dupuis-Deri.

“The idea is simple: You wear black suits, which was a punk fashion at the time, black leather jackets and cotton hoodie, motorcycle helmets, sunglasses and bandana. This was a way of making sure they could not be recognized by the police,” he adds. “There is no leadership, no hierarchy, no superstars, no spokesperson, no press statements.”

Before the recent demonstrations in Europe, perhaps the Black Blocs’ best known performances were during the World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Seattle, United States, in 1999, and the June 2016 nationwide demonstrations in France against the Loi Travail, labour law. In both cases, there were numerous and sharp confrontations with police, with hundreds injured and arrested.

Dupuis-Deri says the lack of organizational structure allows members to find each other quickly based on their attires, but they also congregate through word of mouth and by knowing each other through prior demonstrations.

Mobility is another characteristic of the movement. While European governments have not publicized any information for the recent demonstrations, Black Blocs are known for having crossed borders in the past to participate in demonstrations in other countries.

How numerous are the Black Blocs or can they be stopped?

“They don’t have a membership roster, so no one really knows how many they are. Intelligence services number them around 5,000-7,000 in Europe, with few hundreds showing up in each demonstration,” says Dupuis-Deri. “Nobody can stop them. All this talk that (leader of the Far-Right France Insoumise, Jean-Luc) Melenchon can stop them if he wanted to, that’s all political manipulation.”

He also warns that the Left being associated with Black Blocks presence in their midst could have unforeseen consequences.

“Remember, in 1968, there were large demonstrations (organized by the Left). The end result was a large gathering of the Right in Place de la Concord, calling for the restoration of law and order. Then it was (General Charles) de Gaulle who won the elections,” he says.

Peyman is an American journalist and writer, who has also served as a UN communications officer. He is author of two current affairs fictions: The Age of Intolerance and The Misfit Radical. Peyman is a regular contributor to Global Geneva.