Athens in flames: Nearly 300 anarchists held after violent Greek protests
World
Athens in flames: Nearly 300 anarchists held after violent Greek protests
Greek police have rounded up 296 anarchists in connection with violent riots that ripped through the Greek capital and five other cities across the country overnight. The violence - among the the worst witnessed in years - erupted from what initially looked like a peaceful protest march marking the sixth anniversary of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed teenager, Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Black-clad anarchists penetrated the march, launching attacks against riot police and going on a rampage in the centre of Athens.
I'm leaving this red flower, red like your blood spilled on the pavement.
A note left at a shrine in Athens where Grigoropoulos was shot dead
Banks were fire-bombed and cars set on fire, turning Athens into a war zone for hours. Even the country’s Catholic cathedral, nestled in the heart of the Greek capital, was attacked, as anarchists ripped out slabs gracing its marble entrance, breaking them and hurling them at riot police. Some also carried placards referring to the police shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson in the US. Violence gripped six other cities across the country, with solidarity marches even spilling over into neighbouring Turkey.
