In case you haven’t heard:

Rioting continued in multiple Greek cities the day after 15-year-old Andreas Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by police in the neighborhood of Exarchia. Athens saw the largest and most violent clashes, people are saying that central Athens looks like a war zone and the international media are calling the riots the worst [sic] since the 1973 coup. The police responsible for Andreas’ death are being charged with manslaughter. Witnesses have refuted their claims that they merely fired into the air when attempting to disperse the crowd that Andreas was a part of.

According to Christian Science Monitor:

“The feeling is anger,” says John Gelis, a 28-year psychologist, shortly before joining the march. “A kid was killed just like that. It’s a sign of arrogance by the police. It’s an act against democracy.”

Mr. Gelis joined in the riots on Saturday night, saying the targets of the unrest included banks and multinational companies, not small businesses. “No one has anything against the little owners.”

But some small businesses had been ransacked, including a family-run computer store in the heart of Exarchia. Business owners and residents say they are weary of the unrest.

The issue of which businesses were targeted and why is certainly important to me. Of course I recognize that the crowds are not homogenous, and that its members can have different reasons for their actions. I do applaud the Greeks for standing up to the state and I hope that they keep their targets reasonable. I will be watching this situation with interest.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 9:50 am and is filed under current event. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.