Greek police shooting sparks riot

**4me2** · 7th December 2008

Greek police shooting sparks riot

Youths rioted after the news of the teenager's death was reported

Riots have broken out in several Greek cities after police shot dead a teenager in the capital Athens.
The unrest began in Athens soon after the shooting in Exarchia district, a regular scene of clashes between police and leftist groups.
Youths threw petrol bombs, burned cars and smashed shop windows.
Riots then spread to Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, to the northern cities of Komotini and Ioannina, and to Crete.
Two officers have been suspended, and an inquiry is under way.
Interior minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said in a statement: "The government expresses its profound regret over this incident.
"An inquiry on the circumstances of the death has already begun and, if the policemen are found to have been derelict in their duty, the punishment will be exemplary."
Resignation offered
In Athens police fired tear gas at hundreds of stone-throwing youths, who went on a rampage as news of the shooting spread.

It looks like something out of a war film, like Black Hawk Down

Jonathan Recaldin
Local resident

After a lull of a couple of hours, rioting resumed shortly after midnight local time (2200 GMT), with some protesters marching through Athens city centre and others fighting police outside the National Technical University of Athens, the Associated Press news agency reported.
One British student in Exarchia, whose accommodation is on the road leading to the university, said the scene was "unbelievable".
"The air is thick with burning fuels, it's very hard to breathe. It looks like something out of a war film, like Black Hawk Down, and I say that without over-estimation," Jonathan Recaldin wrote to the BBC News website.
In Thessaloniki dozens of youths attacked a police precinct, while others blocked a road near the university campus.

People were being encouraged to join in the protests via some websites, AP said.
An Interior Ministry press officer told Reuters news agency that Mr Pavlopoulos had offered his resignation to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, but it had been rejected.
Police issued a statement after the shooting, saying a patrol car with two officers inside was attacked by about 30 youths throwing stones.
They were attacked again and responded, with one firing a stun grenade and the other shooting and fatally wounding the boy, AP quoted the statement as saying.
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says the shooting and rioting are certain to ramp up clashes between anarchists and police. The Exarchia area is regarded as a fortress by anarchists who frequently lure police into it, then attack them with rocks. A similar shooting in 1985 led to years of violence. Residents have recently protested over rising crime and lawlessness, and complain that the police fail to answer emergency calls, staying barricaded in their police stations, our correspondent adds.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7769710.stm

**-AMO-** · 7th December 2008

You throw shit, you get shot. Simple.

**Over Carl** · 7th December 2008

How do we know whether that was the case? Remember stories of a certain Brazilian spark - stories coming out at inquest were different to what we first heard.

**-AMO-** · 7th December 2008

Originally Posted by Over carl

How do we know whether that was the case? Remember stories of a certain Brazilian spark - stories coming out at inquest were different to what we first heard.

He wasn't even supposed to be in this country. Serves him right too.

**4me2** · 7th December 2008

Originally Posted by 4me2

The Exarchia area is regarded as a fortress by anarchists who frequently lure police into it, then attack them with rocks. A similar shooting in 1985 led to years of violence. Residents have recently protested over rising crime and lawlessness, and complain that the police fail to answer emergency calls, staying barricaded in their police stations, our correspondent adds.

Says a lot to me.

**Brock** · 8th December 2008

Shoot them all. Problem solved.

**neo2810** · 8th December 2008

This smacks of irony to me. Anarchists behaving outside the law, then bitching when a copper follows their lead and shoots back?

Fuck em. If they want to play with fire, they must accept when they get burned. It's a shame the death was a teenage one but I'm sure he was no more undeserving than the adults around him....