Raffi logged most of the details. The adrenaline rush is too intense.
At about 1:50 a.m. I heard a couple of explosions with some lightning. went out on the balcony toward my courtyard, just as Lena was calling me to tell me that this was not fireworks, but bombs. we assume they were fake noise bombs used as a deterrent.
I went to the opposite side of my apartment facing saryan street, with a view of the baghramian intersection. i saw crowds building. put on clothes and ran downstairs. as i was talking to two women who were explaining to me that people were being beaten up by the National Assembly building. "there was a man who's head was bashed in, with blood spilling all over," said one woman. then she turned to the building--my building--and started crying for people to wake up and come out to fight.
as i was catching my breath, i noticed two police officers directly across the street from me, with a bunch of riot gear police running after them. one police officer--have no idea what the rank was--had another man by the neck and he was inflicting kick after kick on the man's body. the man was able to get away, but the riot gear police were chasing another group to the National Unity building which is adjacent to where Raffi and I live.
as i was told by my neighbor to go back up, i realized that a bunch of people were also running up my stairwell with me, trying to escape the police. i ran in to my apartment and started watching from my living room window. raffi came up, and we were in communication with Lena who lives close to the Opera.
The scenes reminded me of the days of the Iranian revolution. Several red beret (sp?) special forces were out and looking around. we saw one with a baton. we also saw a riot gear police officer at the National Unity building.
journalists were filming, and they relayed to us that they were chased and that the producer was threatened. the cameraman was also threatened.
at about 3 a.m. after things had calmed down on baghramian and the riot gear had moved up the street in formation, i hear scuffle in the back courtyard again. it was too dark, but i saw men chasing after one or more person(s), and i saw one using a stun gun--not on someone, but just in the air.
all in all a stunning display of force and brutality. what the outcome is will not be clear, but i don't think that the opposition is going to let up so easily, and this has just escalated what was a war of words to a high-stakes game of street politics.
i should also add that it's not clear what initiated the attack, whether the opposition activists or the government forces were the first to engage in violence. no news outlet has yet reported on this. we do know that AP and Reuters had journalists out there.
At about 1:50 a.m. I heard a couple of explosions with some lightning. went out on the balcony toward my courtyard, just as Lena was calling me to tell me that this was not fireworks, but bombs. we assume they were fake noise bombs used as a deterrent.
I went to the opposite side of my apartment facing saryan street, with a view of the baghramian intersection. i saw crowds building. put on clothes and ran downstairs. as i was talking to two women who were explaining to me that people were being beaten up by the National Assembly building. "there was a man who's head was bashed in, with blood spilling all over," said one woman. then she turned to the building--my building--and started crying for people to wake up and come out to fight.
as i was catching my breath, i noticed two police officers directly across the street from me, with a bunch of riot gear police running after them. one police officer--have no idea what the rank was--had another man by the neck and he was inflicting kick after kick on the man's body. the man was able to get away, but the riot gear police were chasing another group to the National Unity building which is adjacent to where Raffi and I live.
as i was told by my neighbor to go back up, i realized that a bunch of people were also running up my stairwell with me, trying to escape the police. i ran in to my apartment and started watching from my living room window. raffi came up, and we were in communication with Lena who lives close to the Opera.
The scenes reminded me of the days of the Iranian revolution. Several red beret (sp?) special forces were out and looking around. we saw one with a baton. we also saw a riot gear police officer at the National Unity building.
journalists were filming, and they relayed to us that they were chased and that the producer was threatened. the cameraman was also threatened.
at about 3 a.m. after things had calmed down on baghramian and the riot gear had moved up the street in formation, i hear scuffle in the back courtyard again. it was too dark, but i saw men chasing after one or more person(s), and i saw one using a stun gun--not on someone, but just in the air.
all in all a stunning display of force and brutality. what the outcome is will not be clear, but i don't think that the opposition is going to let up so easily, and this has just escalated what was a war of words to a high-stakes game of street politics.
i should also add that it's not clear what initiated the attack, whether the opposition activists or the government forces were the first to engage in violence. no news outlet has yet reported on this. we do know that AP and Reuters had journalists out there.
posted by Alex at 3:43 AM
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