Rioters attacked a Christmas tree in central Athens today, tossing rubbish and hanging bin bags from its branches before clashing with riot police.
In the northern city of Thessaloniki, a small-group of self-styled anarchists occupied a cinema in the city’s main square and threw cakes and sweets at Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos and one of his deputies.
The mayor was attending a Christmas event distributing the sweets to children with sickle-cell anaemia, when the rioters seized the stand and threw its contents at the city officials.
The Christmas tree protest had been advertised as part of a day of events in Greece and around the world exactly two weeks since a 15-year-old was shot dead by police.
The crowd of about 150 clashed with dozens of police shortly after 4pm local time after throwing rubbish at the tree in Athens’ central Syntagma Square. Riot police used pepper spray on the protesters.
The square’s first Christmas tree was burned to the ground on December 8th, the worst day of rioting in the Athens centre.
Another gathering was set for tonight at the site where teenager Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot dead in the central neighbourhood of Exarchia on December 6th. A similar gathering the previous Saturday ended with self-styled anarchists armed with rocks, iron bars and Molotov cocktails clashing with tear-gas-throwing riot police.
Government officials and police have been hoping that, as Christmas draws near, protest fatigue would set in. An early afternoon “anti-racist rally” in front of the main Athens University building in the city centre was attended by only about 30 protesters, according to eyewitnesses.
PA