Hamburg's Golden Pudel has accused local police of acting in an "aggressive," "intimidating" and "inhumane" manner during a raid of the club last month.
The incident, which took place on Friday, August 23rd, saw an undercover police officer accuse a member of the club's staff of selling drugs on the premises, according to a statement posted by the club on Instagram. The employee was subsequently arrested, and around 30 police officers temporarily cordoned off the club.
The statement described the allegations as "completely baseless," and stressed that no drugs were found during the search. Despite this, the staff member was arrested and held overnight. "This case represents an unprecedented escalation of what has been happening around the Pudel," the post continued. "Individuals present as guests have previously been forcefully arrested, and as with our team member now, they were exclusively people with dark skin."
According to taz.de, the incident was part of Drug Task Force, a controversial police operation aimed at clamping down on drug taking in Hamburg's bars and music venues. The article claimed that the operation disproportionately targets people of West African origin.
Read Golden Pudel's statement, which has been translated from German. Statement of the Golden Pudel club regarding the arrest of one of our employees by the Hamburg police. Dangerous places, for whom?
On Friday, August 4th, around 11:30 PM, one of our employees was arrested by the Hamburg police while working on the Golden Pudel premises. According to the commanding officer, plainclothes officers claimed to have seen our employee leaving the workplace during working hours to deal with cocaine above the Golden Pudel in Park Fiction.
Our employee is responsible, among other things, for the security of the Pudel and performs this job with great composure and consistently de-escalating behaviour. The arrest was carried out with a deployment of approximately 30 officers, who temporarily cordoned off the Pudel and whose behaviour towards guests and employees was perceived as aggressive and intimidating.
In our opinion, the observation on which the entire police argument is based is completely baseless. Our employee neither left the workplace nor dealt with drugs in Park Fiction or anywhere else, and no drugs were found during the search of their clothing and residence.
This case represents an unprecedented escalation of what has been happening around the Pudel Club daily and has intensified on the Pudel premises itself in recent weeks. Individuals present as guests have previously been forcefully arrested, and as with our team member now, they were exclusively people with dark skin.
The location of the incident is part of an area classified by the authorities as a ‘dangerous place’ (formerly a ‘danger zone’). This area includes Park Fiction, Hafenstrasse and the Pudel, all of which traditionally represent the idea of diverse, independent, open and anti-authoritarian coexistence of subcultures and communities where everyone is welcome. These institutions are deeply rooted in the entire neighbourhood with this approach. In our opinion, the police disregard this claim and often literally trample upon it.
We call on the authorities to put an end to this inhumane behavior by the police, as it not only endangers this place but actually makes it dangerous. The question, however, is: dangerous for whom...?
All colleagues are beautiful, your Golden Pudel.