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A night of raw police violence and terror

July 3, 2020, Exarcheia
[Video]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kisx4tVY34

Unprecedented scenes of police violent rampage -even for the character of the greek cops that are known to be constantly breaking the law- took place in the neighborhood of Exarchia on the night of Friday, July 3, 2020.

Driven by the impunity that was offered to them by the restrictions on freedom of movement and the ban of mass gatherings, during the coronavirus quarantine, as well as, the new bill to come in Greece, restricting or banning protests and demonstrations, an army of policemen in riot gear stormed a live concert on Friday night, that was taking place in Exarcheia square in solidarity to “Dervenion 56” Squat that was evicted few days ago, suffocated the area with asphyxiating gas grenades, crushed the concert, beat with brutal violence anyone who was just running to escape their rage and chemical attacks, rammed people with their speeding motorbikes, there were cases where Delta police bikers ran over people fallen on the floor crushing their hands and legs, threw flash-bang grenades directly at people, violently attacked dozens of bar customers sitting at bar tables outside, threw an asphyxiating gas grenade inside a bar, invaded bars ruthlessly hitting workers and customers, smashing the places up inside and outside at Exarchia Square, Themistocleous St, Koletti St and Messolonghiou St, hurled tables and chairs at shop windows etc. All of the above, have been recorded in testimonies, photos and videos that have already been released on the internet in the past 3 days and this video just adds up to all of the above.

And in the midst of this chaos, caused by the greek police in Exarcheia neighborhood, solidarity and resistance stood out. From Exarchia residents who opened up the front doors of their buildings or their apartments to provide shelter to the people being ruthlessly attacked or chased by the police. To the people who went out on their balconies and to the streets, rising up and defying the barbarians in uniform. But no matter what they do, in this neighborhood, everything comes back to this. "Resistance, self-organization, solidarity". For many, many decades now.