TW: Police Brutality
Α recap of what happened today in my neighbourhood by this gentleman.
Photos and videos are not mine but I'm hoping to share to international viewers what is going on in Greece, a country that prides itself as the birthplace of democracy but nowadays some don't seem to keen on retaining it.
Translation:
What happened today [in Athens, Greece] is that the police showed up and tried to fine a family with two kids and three adults sitting on a bench.
As the family was trying to explain that they had all the proper credentials to move about and weren't breaking any laws, people around started complaining.
Various people tried to explain to the police that they had no reason to fine these people. The police retaliated with violence. They started beating up a young man with a baton. [Video I posted earlier]
The policemen proceeded to call for backup and about 50 policemen showed up on Nea Smirni's central square; 25 motorcycles with two policemen riding on each.
People got scared. Some tried to seek refuge to a nearby park and the policemen proceeded to maniacally run around in circles on their bikes while in the park, beat more people up and eventually arrested a total of nine the are being held at Greek police HQ.
[Note: the headline falsely reads that 30 people attacked a single officer, that's a lie]
The police in question spread out trying to terrorise people for no reason, and as a result dozens of people gathered at Nea Smirni's central square to complain against police brutality.
[The Sign Reads: Keep Cops out of our Neighbourhoods - Nea Smirni's Residents Open Assembly]
All major news networks in Greece FALSELY reported that thirty people assaulted one police officer. This never happened. NEVER. That's all lies.
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What followed after is police breaking up the peaceful protest with tear gas and flash bang grenades.
As you can see, people unrelated to the protest were still around, including little kids!
This is a photo of a 15-year-old who was hit by piece of one of the flash bang grenades. Fifteen!
I was around the area at the time. I was only mildly affected by the tear gas but it was still very real. Greek news networks were meanwhile reporting that "anarchist protesters" attached the policemen with bottles which, you guessed it, is also a lie!
I'm still puzzled, extremely irritated and also very concerned about what is to follow.
Also, let me point out that my neighbourhood is as stereotypically bourgeois as it gets so while stuff like that are not news for people in other areas of Athens / Greece it's not a usual event for Nea Smìrni.
The police in Greece have been out of control for a while now but now they're getting increasingly more and more dangerous with more and more power allocated to them from the ones in charge. This is honestly not gonna end well I'm afraid.
Please share.
