ATHENS, Greece—Riots erupted in Greece on Sunday, on the one year anniversary of the fatal police shooting of a teenager last year.
In Athens, Greece’s capital, a large scale parade held to commemorate the death of the teenager, turned violent with hooded protesters throwing rocks and firebombs at the police. Police responded with large amounts of tear gas, trying to disperse the protesters.
The streets of Athens were filled with the smell of smoke and the sounds of bombs and sirens on Sunday.
In Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki, groups threw Molotov cocktails at the police and set cars on fire. Violence also erupted in other smaller cities.
Several university buildings in Athens were occupied by the rioters. At the Athens university masked rioters burned the Greek flag and replaced it with the anarchy flag.
In Athens four citizens and 16 police officers have been reported injured, including the dean of the Polytechnic University of Athens, after he was hit on his head by two protesters with a stick, according to Greek media.
One hundred seventy-seven rioters were arrested in Athens and over 500 throughout Greece, some of them underage.
The riots resemble the wide spread protest that took place last year in Greece, after 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was killed by a police bullet.
“I hope that the memory of Alex is going to be honored peacefully. This is the least that everyone owes him,” the president of Greece, Karolos Papoulias said in a statement ahead of the anniversary.
The mother of Alexandros Grigoropoulos told Greek Net Tv station, “I would like you to put this day in the calendar as a day against violence or a day for the youngsters.”
In Athens, Greece’s capital, a large scale parade held to commemorate the death of the teenager, turned violent with hooded protesters throwing rocks and firebombs at the police. Police responded with large amounts of tear gas, trying to disperse the protesters.
The streets of Athens were filled with the smell of smoke and the sounds of bombs and sirens on Sunday.
In Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki, groups threw Molotov cocktails at the police and set cars on fire. Violence also erupted in other smaller cities.
Several university buildings in Athens were occupied by the rioters. At the Athens university masked rioters burned the Greek flag and replaced it with the anarchy flag.
In Athens four citizens and 16 police officers have been reported injured, including the dean of the Polytechnic University of Athens, after he was hit on his head by two protesters with a stick, according to Greek media.
One hundred seventy-seven rioters were arrested in Athens and over 500 throughout Greece, some of them underage.
The riots resemble the wide spread protest that took place last year in Greece, after 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was killed by a police bullet.
“I hope that the memory of Alex is going to be honored peacefully. This is the least that everyone owes him,” the president of Greece, Karolos Papoulias said in a statement ahead of the anniversary.
The mother of Alexandros Grigoropoulos told Greek Net Tv station, “I would like you to put this day in the calendar as a day against violence or a day for the youngsters.”
