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Berlin police break up mass brawl apparently started by YouTube stars

Berlin police had to break up a brawl involving hundreds of people who were responding to a call by rival YouTube stars, local German media reported. Berlin police said it took 100 officers who eventually had to resort to tear gas to break up the 400-person crowd, Deutche Welle reported

Thursday's brawl on the famed Alexanderplatz was the result of a brawl between two YouTube rappers known as Thatsbekir and Bahar Al Amood, the Berlin Morgenposter reported. Both stars denied involvement on their social media pages. 

A video posted on YouTube showed two men talking before the brawl broke out.  A fight involving up to 50 people erupted, BBC News reports. Officers used pepper spray and tear gas after attempts to disperse the crowds with loudspeakers failed. 

About 20 of brawlers allegedly broke off and ran into a local subway station, according to Deutche Welle. They allegedly jumped on the tracks and threw rocks that are supposed to used to keep the trains in place. 

Berlin police said nine people were arrested and two officers were injured.   

GERMANY-INTERNET-DEMONSTRATION
Picture taken through a window shows people standing around police cars and ambulances at Alexanderplatz square in Berlin on March 21, 2019.  Monika Wendel / AFP/Getty Images

The head of Berlin's Gewerkschaft der Polizei, the police union, tweeted that social media stars need to take more responsibility for its actions. 

"We see in the rapper scene, and increasingly also with other influencers, that they are sometimes very negligent with their influence," he said, according to BBC News.  

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