Extremists clash with police in České Budejovice

A few hundred protesters clashed with police in the south Bohemia city of České Budejovice on Saturday afternoon, news server iDnes reported. The protesters, who were chanting racists slogans, separated from a permitted gathering in the center of town and headed to the Máj neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, where some 200 Roma residents were holding a sanctioned meeting. The police have so far been able to keep the two groups away from each other, as members of the first group began throwing bottles and stones at the Romanies. Pepper spray and smoke grenades were used in an attempt to prevent a direct confrontation between the two groups. At least one police officer has been injured. Both gatherings were triggered by a fight that took place between five women in Máj last Friday. Some blamed the local Roma population for not intervening in the fight. On Saturday, a group of local Romani residents gathered to express their desire for better policing in the area, while demonstrators in the center of the city called for the end of violence from the local Romanies.