Greece Riots Photos: Athens Burns Following Mass Protests

Anger over proposed austerity measures reached a boiling point on Sunday as protests in the center of Greece's capital turned violent.

As tens of thousands gathered in front of the Greek parliament in Athens to protest, angry gangs looted stores and torched buildings, according to the New York Times.

Security forces formed lines and hurled tear gas to stave off protesters while rioters reportedly fought back with firebombs and broken bits of marble.

From the Associated Press:

Sunday's clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the parliament to rally against the drastic cuts, which will ax one in five civil service jobs and slash the minimum wage by more than a fifth.

At least 10 buildings were on fire, including a movie theater, bank and cafeteria, and looters smashed dozens of shops in the worst riot damage in years. Dozens of police officers and at least 37 protesters were injured, 23 suspected rioters were arrested and a further 25 detained.

According to the BBC, some protesters were boxed in by police and unable to escape the tear gas flooding Syntagma Square. Reuters reported the use of stun grenades by police to fend off protesters.

Amid the violence, the Greek parliament approved a new round of punishing austerity measures on Monday.

The photos below show petrol bomb explosions, buildings engulfed in flames, and riot police using tear gas during the worst violence that Athens has seen in months:

Comments

[spacecowboynj]

11:04 PM on 02/19/2012

Take a good look liberals.

[Giggie]

12:47 AM on 02/19/2012

Greeks had a holiday for a long time, a very lax tax system, and generous entitlements. Once people are used to a lifestyle, it's very difficult to wean them off. They can't expect the high taxed people of Europe to keep them propped up. Italy could be next, and it will be worse because they have a larger economy. Not good at all.

[westral]

08:55 PM on 02/15/2012

Greeks don't like to pay taxes but they like to spend money they don't have.

[Bill Snuffy Sferopoulos]

12:41 PM on 02/17/2012

That's not true. We pay taxes and we do not spend more than what we have. Our corrupt politicians and their Euro "buddies" are the ones that have caused all of this fiscal anomaly. If they did not want to get richer by playing with our lives this would not have happened. Greece had the most underpayed employees yet the prices were very high.... now thay want to decrease our pays, in the private sector, again (30% pay cut) just so they will not have to decrease the civil server sector, because the majority of the governments' votes come from them and their families.

[Eagleman]

08:55 AM on 02/14/2012

2012 Athens
2013 Washington DC (one we re-elect Mr. Hope and Change)

[Peabodies]

12:47 AM on 02/14/2012

Greece will be the last guinea pig for neo-liberal, IMF-bureaucrats experiment. Greece, even if it is made to look like it "went along" DIDN"T go along. This demonstrates That!

[Euges]

11:53 PM on 02/13/2012

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/455/continental-breakup

When asked why they let Greece into the Eurozone even when they knew they were lieing about their economy..."Whoofff, we shouldn't have done that"..

[keezze]

11:18 PM on 02/13/2012

Greeks its time to settle down and GET BACK TO WORK...No 2 hour naps between luch and dinner.. You will work 50 weeks a year and pay your taxes. Stop with the burning stores, and be greatful you got bailed out AGAIN and stop the nonsence. Or you will destroy your main great cash pool, tourism...

[Peabodies]

12:49 AM on 02/14/2012

says keezze from his mom's basement.

[demsrsilly]

10:20 PM on 02/13/2012

The money to pay for the damages should come from the ones doing the burning. Terrorist scum.

[mrJJ]

09:01 PM on 02/13/2012

Greek's Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos has been a member of the Trilateral Commission since 1998. It's just a matter of time before the Trilateral "advisors" recommends that he sholuld declare matial law...

[Daniel Alman]

08:40 PM on 02/13/2012

Hopefully this dosnt spread to the rest of the free world... OWS is enough...

[muck-raker]

07:52 PM on 02/13/2012

This hardly made any press here in USA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm4p79FcjZk
Ireland austerity measures causes riots in the streets...today we see Greece imploding. soon we will see it spread to Italy, Portugal and Spain and then the contagion will come across the big pond...look for it..

[Terri Skau]

08:40 PM on 02/13/2012

Hi Muck.. We both know who controls the media "The Fed" and do you really think they want us to know about this aw hell no. It's coming and I know it and so do you..;-) T.

[muck-raker]

09:17 AM on 02/14/2012

Good morning...I start my day by watching Squak Box, business news...we had the usual rant by Santelli which is always on the mark and by David Brooks with a startling sum up. It seems that the bottom line is we are borrowing .38 of every dollar spent...this comes with a price from China. Further more the common denominator seemed to be that we should have raised taxes on the rich back in 2000. but no one wants to do it...The American taxpayer, those that actually have a job are going to pay a terrible price. Its all about getting elected, nothing else matters.

[Victor Reynolds]

11:36 PM on 02/13/2012

Coming soon to an American town near you!

[LiberalAsTheDayIsLong]

07:39 PM on 02/13/2012

So for years the powers that be in Greece, in order to stay in power, basically gave away the store. Now when crisis strikes their solution is to fix it on the backs of the society they created.....Good luck with that. It does sound like the US, and the powers that be want to fix it on the backs of the poor, elderly, sick, and disabled.

[Djinn NY]

07:37 PM on 02/13/2012

Redeclare you independence from the Brussels! Eleftheria i Thanatos!

[Djinn NY]

07:33 PM on 02/13/2012

Greece should've chosen the "Argentine option," more painful in the short term, less painful in the long term. An added bonus would be that Greece would regain it's independence.

-A friendly Turk.

[Raglimidechi]

01:24 PM on 02/13/2012

The bailout will preserve elites worldwide at the expense of Greek working people, who are resisting, apparently in the only way that makes sense to them. None of this was inevitable.

[emncaity]

06:30 PM on 02/13/2012

Depends on what you mean by "inevitable." Seems pretty inevitable to me that the people with the money keep it, and the gap between the 2% rich and the 98% service class and poor just keeps growing.