[9][10][14][15][17] In late November 2012, the protests spread to cities and towns throughout the country, where the people are demanding resignations and prosecutions of politicians and other members of the "elite", accused of corruption.

[37] During his six-year tenure he has become notorious after being involved in multiple affairs and scandals, resulting in a number of criminal investigations and indictments, none in which he has been found guilty to date.

[37][38] He has been frequently accused by both the media and his opposition of political corruption, favouritism, clientelism,[3][4][5][6] misguided budgetary policy and failed or semi-finished projects,[39] the biggest one being the unsuccessful organization of the 2013 Winter Universiade for which the City Municipality of Maribor now faces a multi-million euros lawsuit from the FISU.

[37] Critics say that Kangler's downfall began in October 2012, when he signed a controversial[1][24][41][42] public–private partnership with the company Iskra Sistemi for the implementation of a stationary radar system with the intended purpose of ensuring greater traffic safety within the city limits.

[37][41] Iskra Sistemi was granted permission to install 46 speed radars, 30 of which were operational by the end of October, and within the first few days the system detected almost 25,000 traffic offenses, the majority of which were minor.

[43] Government under the right-wing leader Janez Janša responded to the weakening of the Slovenian economy during the global economic crisis and European sovereign-debt crisis with opening up old ideological fronts against the liberal media and the public sector, especially the educational and cultural sectors, accusing them of being under the influence of members of the old regime called Udbomafia and "Uncles from Behind the Scenes" (In Slovene: "strici iz ozadja")[44] and against anyone who doubted that the austerity measures that have been forced upon Slovenia are the right ones.

[47][48] It is speculated that the sole reason for Kangler's candidature for the council was the fact that elected councillors receives immunity from prosecution during the duration of their five-year term.

[47][48] At around 20:00 CET, Barada, who is also a member of the Maribor City Council, appeared at the protest concealed with a hoodie[48] and accompanied by about a dozen of masked friends.

[52] During Franc Kangler's last mayoral term, Barada's school of martial arts BB Hwarang received over 150,000 euros of donations from the City Municipality of Maribor.

[54] "Because the protesters did not disperse when ordered, we decided for the use of police force, only to encounter violent resistance from the majority of the people present.

"With three other friends we were sitting on the ground in a sign of a peaceful protest.. Then we have told the police officers not to behave in such an aggressive manner towards us, only to be sprayed in the eyes with tear gas and ordered to disperse.

[59][60] However, about two hours into the protests they turned violent when a group of several thousand decided to move in front of a building, the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, located about 200 meters to the north of the square, which was heavily protected by the police forces.

[8][11] Reports on what triggered the violence vary, however, the area was quickly a scene of a massive riot with heavy clashes that erupted between hundreds of protesters and members of the police.

[60] The violence started at around 18:15 CET and escalated after the use of force and tear gas by the police, which scattered the crowd into a number of smaller groups and fighting continued for several hours on different locations within the city centre.

[12] Everyone that sought and received medical treatment suffered minor injuries, however, two police officers and one protester had to spend a night in the hospital.

[55][56] Gorenak dubbed the protests as "illegal, not registered and not allowed" and stated that the intervention of the police was correct and within the authorized limits.

[56] Gorenak also stated that the police will do everything in their power to hunt down the anonymous organizers of the protests, and held them accountable for the violence and damage caused by the rioters.

[9] Gorenak's claims, that a protest has to be registered and officially announced to be legal, were later denied and dismissed as unfounded by Miro Cerar Jr., a professor of law at the University of Ljubljana.