Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old high-school student, is shot in the chest by police officer Epameinontas Korkoneas. The murder triggers a profound revolt across and beyond the country’s borders.
The news channels loop familiar images of stone throwing protesters and violent police chasing each other through ubiquitous clouds of tear gas, whilst social media networks hum with the excitement of some of the largest social struggles in recent years. The protests soon questioned the legitimacy and effectiveness of the state authorities.
The immediate outcome of these events has to be placed in the context of the deeper social tensions within Greece that pre-date them. The riots unleashed a pent-up frustration of the youth over the ineptitude and indiscipline of the police. This same group had parallel grievances over the lack of jobs, the changed employment contracts, and low incomes on offer to them. This was probably the first generation of the Metapolitefsi to face worse economic prospects than its predecessors.
The first natural target of these demonstrations was the police, blamed for its brutality, but also its incompetence and inability to protect the citizens from the generalized anarchy that prevailed.
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