Riots, rioters, riot gear, police, graffiti...

On December 6, 2008 a 15 year old Greek youth was shot and killed by Greek police. Andreas Griogoropoulos was killed by shots fired from a police gun during clashes between police and youths in Exarchia. He was among a group of youths who threw stones at a police car. Since then, there has been rioting in Greece, including throwing of molatov cocktails, rocks through windows, shattering bus shelters, graffiti and tagging buildings and statues.

We were a little worried about going to Athens, not knowing the city, nor what our ‘plan’ would be if there was rioting. After reading several blog posts from locals, we decided to proceed with our trip. I’m glad we did. We saw a few protesters with banners and bullhorns; we heard loud cries and chants from a rally; we saw a lot of graffiti; we saw plenty of armored buses carrying police officers and riot gear; we definitely saw a police presence around Syntagma square; and we even saw a few officers dressed in riot gear with a tear gas can hanging around their neck!

Here are some pictures of rioting and the aftermath from late December 2008. Many shops and banks had rocks thrown through the glass windows, so those were being repaired/replaced; a few buildings were torched and had obvious signs of being charred; and monuments/government institutions/museums were tagged with graffiti.

Regardless of the reasons for the riots and as legitimate of a gripe the protestors may have, the destruction of public property (and in my mind) the spray painting of graffiti on marble statues and buildings is just an infantile action by folks that have no respect for their community.

Use your words, people, not your spraypaint!