The incident, which involved 400 fans and more than 100 police officers, has gone viral on social media. It took place on Thursday evening in the capital and involved two rival German YouTubers ‘Thatsbekir’ and ‘Bahar al Amood’.
READ: Police break-up mass 'social media' brawl as 400 fans descend on Alexanderplatz
The 'social media influencers' came face to face in the centre of Alexanderplatz, a huge tourist destination, and started trading insults. Nine of their fans were arrested while 13 criminal cases have been instigated. The Berlin Morgenpost are reporting that knives were confiscated by police.
The first YouTube video shows the confrontation, as well as the scope of the surrounding crowd.
The second, which appears to be from social media platform Snapchat, shows the confrontation up close.
The incident gained plenty of traction and reaction on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Berlin Morgenpost’s police reporter shared the following images of the police presence, the arrests and one of the confiscated knives.
#Berlin #Mitte #Alexanderplatz - Influencer kündigt Autogrammstunde an, etwa 250 Personen erscheinen, es kommt zu heftigen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen den anwesenden Personen, mehrere Festnahmen, Messer sichergestellt pic.twitter.com/WLMOX0O7V0
— Polizeireporter-BM (@PolReporter) 21. März 2019
A similar story was posted on Instagram by Kreuzberg News.
The Berliner Zeitung also reported on the incident.
Zahlreiche Festnahmen nach Auseinandersetzung am Alexanderplatz. Auch Messer wurden sichergestellt. Nach Informationen vor Ort gingen bis zu 250 Personen aufeinander los. https://t.co/ZeAbECx0Gv @TomSchreiberMdA @bene_lux @ichinis @Tegelorter @Majonnchen @max_langner @BZPolizei pic.twitter.com/kpe8xJI8mc
— Nacht Floh (@BZ_NachtFloh) 21. März 2019
"Numerous arrests after a conflict at Alexanderplatz. Knives were also secured. According to information on site up to 250 people were involved in the brawl," the tweet said.
Passers by and residents of the area surrounding Alexanderplatz were confused by the incident, wondering why the flash mob had collected at one of Berlin’s busiest stations and best-known tourist attractions.
Am #Alexanderplatz in #Berlin sind zwei große Gruppen Jugendlicher aufeinandergetroffen, es kam zu einer Schlägerei und einem Großeinsatz der Polizei. Offenbar hatten zwei "verfeindete" Youtuber ihre Fans zum Alex mobilisiert. https://t.co/jBCvTEqd8c via @watson_de
— Felix Huesmann (@felixhuesmann) 21. März 2019
"At Alexanderplatz in Berlin, two large groups of young people have come together, before a large fight erupted and the police moved in. Apparently, two 'enemy' YouTubers had brought their fans to Alex," the tweet said.
Mega viel Polizei und Menschen am Alexanderplatz, ich wundere mich, gucke bei Twitter nach und lese, dass sich zwei Youtuber zu einer Schlägerei verabredet haben. Ciao. pic.twitter.com/Fv6k228LkK
— Eva Molau (@EvaMolau) 21. März 2019
"Loads of police and people at Alexanderplatz. I wondered what was going on, before I looked at Twitter to see that two YouTubers agreed to have a brawl. Ciao," the tweet said.
The police union blamed the two perpetrators for fanning the flames by encouraging their fans to confront each other.
Guten Morgen Hauptstadt,
— GdP Berlin (@GdPHauptstadt) 22. März 2019
auf dem Alexanderplatz gab es gestern mal wieder die Zusammenkunft von zu viel Testosteron, die mehr oder weniger so gewollt war - Unser Landeschef Norbert Cioma richtet einen Appell an die Verantwortlichen pic.twitter.com/APmRICKt4d
“We see in the rap scene and increasingly also with other influencers that they are negligent with their influence; it seems to be in fashion to inflame tensions simply to get more clicks and more followers," the union said.
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