COMMENTARY - Riots in the gangster city: In Zurich, Red-Green receives the bill for far too lax security policy.

Riots in the Gangster City: In Zurich, Red-Green receives the bill for far too lax security policy. Left-wing extremists camp undisturbed on Lindenhof. Vandalists set cars on fire and cover half the city with spray paint. Left-wing politicians want less police. The truth is: the concept of tolerance has failed. Red-Green Zurich is wrestling with itself. In fact, the Left has firmly gripped the city. It wants to rebuild it: end the image of the undercooled financial center, move towards polished strictness. Get rid of the gloss of a boring high-gloss metropolis that pleases people with boutiques, galleries, and expensive nightlife. Alternative spaces like the Red Factory or the Central Laundry must come. Zurich should not just be chic, but colorful, bold, diverse. A touch of Gangster style must not be missing. Berlin, Paris, or New York do it too, after all. The nightlife of the young and no longer quite young Left should be the thorn in the flesh of the bourgeoisie. The vibes of the autonomous youth center, the spirit of the unrest of the early 1980s, should continue to be felt, at least a little bit. But when these vibes shake the Limmat city quite violently, the united Left regularly does not know what to do. Spray paint and tons of waste When left-wing extremists took over Lindenhof for a "diverse political and music program" in late summer, the city police, led by the green security commissioner Karin Rykart, allowed the occupiers to remain. Result: sprayed house walls, 2.2 tons of waste, cleaning costs to the taxpayer of up to 40,000 Swiss francs. In Pfalzgasse, one can still "admire" what the disguised inhabitants of the Zurich inner city left behind that weekend: "Money stinks" is written on a wall in meters-long letters. When several dozen rioters from a similar milieu recently engaged in a street fight with the police at the Hardplatz in Zurich's Aussersihl, the state had to be humiliated for hours. The rioters were apparently in the majority. The shelling with rockets, flares, bottles, and paving stones from self-built depots showed its effect. The security forces withdrew. Brawling groups in dark hooded sweatshirts could demolish and set fire to an abandoned police transport in peace. Major operation in Zurich: In the largest city in Switzerland, young people attacked police officers and forces with flares and rockets last night. — Steffan Nethe (@steffan_nethe) October 11, 2026 Should they now pursue the violent clashes in France and Belgium? I find this development in... Why not? The vandals may think so. In the protection of an anonymous mass, nothing should happen to them anyway – just as little as the unknown sprayers from Lindenhof. Provided they leave no smartphone data, DNA traces, or usable video footage at the scene of the crime. Someone should say that Zurich has no "living" party scene. The riots at the Hardplatz were, so to speak, the "after hour" of an illegal party in the same place. It is a worrying development of a worrying laissez-faire policy. Red-Green in Zurich has learned nothing from past omissions. "Tolerance goes beyond intervention" – this guideline in favor of a "diverse cultural offer" has already not worked at the occupied food area. It falls back on the shoulders of those politically responsible these days. Radically tolerant occupation policy Ten years ago, the green mayor of Zurich Mathis Kläntschi found himself forced to read the Leviten to the then-security commissioner Richard Wolff. The oversight body of the government initiated a procedure against Wolff on its own initiative. The accusation that the mayor confirmed in a 24-page report: the security commissioner of the Alternatives List had repeatedly been drawn into a "radically tolerant" occupation policy, as the parties, concerts, theater performances, and discussion rounds on the food area were "creative creations." Wolff had let himself be danced around by an equally loud and potentially violent "community" without much resistance. "Fight the police," they had sprayed on a wall of their provisional "home" on the food area. The threat alone was enough. The security forces, unsettled by a dubious figure at the political top, held back for years. This despite 174 reports of disturbances that were received from the neighborhood of the occupied area at that time. The police commissioner had to step down "for family reasons." His sons are also believed to have been in the occupation scene; it is hardly believable. The overall city council promised improvement – but the executive also had to endure significant criticism. The Mayor's message: The legal state of the area must be restored. In the "failure of milder measures," the police must intervene. The public interests to be protected weigh more than the possible protests of the occupiers. Intervention by the security forces is thus proportionate. Lawless spaces The provision of that time reads like a handbook for the situations with which Zurich still struggles today. Perhaps the current security commissioner and other decision-makers of the Left should read the Mayor's regret carefully once more. The findings in it seem timeless. Lawless spaces like that on the food area still exist. Occupiers, sympathizers, and followers of a pseudocommunist party and riot scene find optimal conditions in Zurich. These figures can get the Gangster groove in the Central Laundry or the occupied post in Wipkingen, a Brutalist concrete block that looks particularly ugly thanks to the graffiti of its "inhabitants." From there, it is not far to the underpasses on both ends of the Hardbrücke, where illegal parties constantly take place. In April, police officers were attacked after such a party in Wipkingen, ten days ago at the Hardplatz. According to indications from the city police, the culprits were thugs from the FC Zurich milieu. Traces of these fellows can also be found on Lindenhof – and in half the city: "FC Zurich" here, "South Curve" there, "1896" everywhere. The spray paints and stickers are an annoyance. And they are frightening. If one wants to face these FCZ gangs in the open street – and perhaps ask them to stop their shameful behavior? Better not. Otherwise, a fist might fly in your face. How ugly this is: These graffiti will not disappear so quickly. The perpetrators want to mark "their" territory, so they pull up their hoods and masks and start. They turn the street into their autonomous youth center. Appeals like those of club president Ancillo Canepa from last year, asking to refrain from spray painting in public spaces, are correct. But they seem helpless and unbelievable. A club whose security chief Luca Maggi has close ties to the hard core of fans in the South Curve has lost much trust. But this also fits the groove in this city: Red-Green in the city council wants not more, but less police during demonstrations and major events. Such ideas are formulated by people like Maggi, who wanted to weaken the city police in his role as a member of the Green party – a bizarre constellation. Damage by football fans amounts to several million francs per year. So what to do? Should these costs be directly charged to the wrongdoers, as the city's FDP has recently demanded? And at the same time should the clubs take "greater responsibility" – and for how long, until FC Zurich and Grasshoppers have taken "effective preventive measures" against such damages? The motion was rightly rejected. Football clubs cannot be held in joint liability for offenses by their yet unknown followers in half the city area. This might sound so seductive. It is just unfortunate that the FCZ president acted in such a way when it came to fan violence, first talking about head and shoulders and then wanting to say nothing at all. Misguided policing But with that, Red-Green in Zurich is not out of the clear. Whoever lets left-wing occupiers camp on Lindenhof just so, should not be surprised if the same group takes a piece of the city elsewhere and disfigures it the same night. If the city police has to withdraw from the Hardplatz because they are massively shot at by an agitated mob, then that has nothing to do with the ideal of a "diverse" party city. The riots of that night were rather the bill for a far too lax attitude. Fortunately, Zurich is far removed from conditions like those in Paris, Milan, or Limoges. Nevertheless, politics should be careful. In a report by the City Police Commander from 2021 it is stated unequivocally: "For the city of Zurich to be able to maintain its current level of security, the city police must be equipped with additional personnel resources." Specifically, the corps should receive 17 more positions each year. This is an endeavor that the green security commissioner tries to bravely implement – against the resistance of her own party and the rest of the Left. After the recent acts of vandalism, there can only be one conclusion: security is more important than "cool" locations in public space where dubious groups can indulge their whims. Zurich must not become a gangster city. The tolerance policy of Red-Green has failed.