I said Ill provide more information and proof about what is happening during the attempts at a revolution in Greece (called riots).I know Im late a couple of days, sorry for that. Im also trying to put together a large post about some of what is happening but I have to compose pieces from hundreds of articles and posts, I have more than 150 open tabs and chrome keeps crashing.
Right now a woman is perched on a balcony to commit suicide because she is being fired according to TROIKA demands of public sector shrinkage, and NO TV CHANNEL, NOT ONE, is showing it, while its live on the internet. But thats for another thread.
So, certainly not as detailed as I had in mind, but I admit most of my time regarding the Greek issue is spent on Greek sites and forums trying to inform.
PLEASE READ THROUGH THE COMMENTS AND WATCH AT LEAST SOME OF THE VIDEOS, OR IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO REALIZE WHAT HAPPENED.
Here the crowd is starting to gather. All those people were there by 17:25 or so, when the unprovoked police attack took place.
You cant imagine how many people gathered. The streets to the left and right were filled, up to the next square. The roads leading down from the parliament were also filled. There were hundreds of thousands, with TV media talking about 15-50,000 depending. And they stayed, up to midnight. Thousands left and thousands came. Blogs and sources are claiming more than 1 million in total. If the crowd had been allowed to gather half of Athens would have been on the streets, the dictatorship-government would have been over.
Thats why the orders to vacate the streets and squares was given.
Few images before the police attack:
Minutes before the attack the living legends of Greece arrive: Mikis Theodorakis and Manolis Glezos. Both around 90 years old. Both fighters in the resistance against the Nazis and fighters against the military Junta. Theodorakis is also a world renowned composer, while Glezos is the one who took the Nazi flag down from Acropolis while under German occupation.
They start giving speeches after having stated to the riot police that they are there with peaceful intentions. The leader of the Greek police union is with them amongst the crowd.
IT IS THEN THAT SUDDENLY, THE RIOT POLICE, THROW CHEMICALS TOWARDS THEODORAKIS AND GLEZOS:
As far as I, and thousands others, are concerned, that was attempted murder against these fragile but heroic 90 year old men. Glezos is later rushed to the parliament hospital.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEV97gDfnng Here is the start. The police throw chemicals while Theodorakis is speaking to the people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCjceYa1YLU Seconds after from a few meters further behind, after the first chemicals.
Thats when the crowd is enraged, and at the same time as if on cue, the hooded ones, the koukouloforoi, emerge from a side street and start a barrage of Molotov cocktails and even flare guns towards the riot police. I will briefly talk about the constant scourge of Greek protests, the hooded ones later.
The police answers as always by not attacking to arrest the hooded ones, but by starting what can only be described as chemical warfare against the protesters en masse. These are not simple tear gases. These are substances banned from use against civilian population, suffocating, burning up your larynx, eyes, what have you, and generally dangerous. These are the same chemicals that killed a man during the October riots.
This 8 minute video has footage from the day, I find to be generally indicative of the war like and terrifying atmosphere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XJODIjZtxM
The following are videos from various side streets and smaller squares around Syntagma square were hunted people gathered to avoid the chemicals thrown.
You can see in these videos that people are from all walks of life and ages, and not organized terrorists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg5X77x8WYU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlxlvbrd_Po
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUgMovSoVyI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT8g2eFpwFA
I think this footage is close to the events of the riot police throwing more chemicals in the narrow streets which I personally experienced. It was even worst in narrower streets but most people were too panicked trying to survive to film I guess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttAMGwy2xmE
A point I have to make, and which I personally find perfectly natural, is that after 2 years of such violence along with humiliating and impoverishing measures of the TROIKA, some of the normal people have started to cheer for the hooded ones. Some even throw stuff at the police after they have experienced the brutality of the chemicals. However the police response is again extreme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIhhsXUDcVk
In this video the motorcycle riding police, the DELTA and the DIAS (Zeus) units, are going about terror tactics of running through crowds as happened before. Someone attempts to kick a passing motorcycle. As a response the next coming bike tries to ram innocent people next to him. When they fall down you can see the people afraid of a single police officer. Thats because theyre all everyday, simple people. Soon after youll see the police spraying and shooting chemicals at the gathered crowd again, just for good measure.
Thats a 'beautiful' one from Thessaloniki, showing the police herding peaceful protesters with sprays of chemicals, like cockroaches:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xoltz5_yyyyyyyyyyy-yyyyyyy-yyyyy-yyyyyyy_news
PS: I was accused of being overly melodramatic in my first hand description from Athens:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=35078727&postcount=17
I had traveled hundreds of kms to be there and protest for my country, and had just returned after hours of chemicals thrown at me and running amidst chaos. Now that I read over it more calm, I feel that I was 100% objective, this IS how it was, and anyone accusing me from the comfort of his home of being a drama queen is welcome to come here during the next protest.