So there I was, waltzing out of the rear entrance of Piazza Venezia, and onto the parliamentary courtyard and what do I see?
Protesters, Picketers, and Polizia... Oh my! Too curious for my own good, I went in for a closer look... My sister stayed behind, wishing for me to return to the steps for which we'd just walked down... I scurried and weaved between the crowd and next to the protesters who were screaming and chanting furiously. A bald man, who was obviously the chief of the Polizia, was screaming passionately at his team of 8 officers to keep the crowd back... Simultaneously a young heroine, was screaming to his fellow protesters to keep pushing forward! There was a loud burgundy haired woman who occasionally screamed something from the back, to which the entire crowd wailed in agreement!!
All of a sudden a minivan of sorts, with Polizia painted over its entirety pulled up in a rush... officers rushed out in ungodly numbers, and ran straight for the crowd. Taken aback, I gasped aloud and ran back to my sister... I asked her for the good camera, raced back to the skirmish... meanwhile, the pushing match began to get out of control... men and woman screamed in pain as 25 brawny polizia began to push them back, the chief was screaming to his officers, like an Iditarod leader yelling mush to his dogs... A woman fell out of the crowd, holding her arm in pain as she was temporarily trampled by the polizia. As I viewed and pulled out my camera to begin taping, the loud burgundy haired woman took one look at the injured lady, and lept onto the pack of protesters, crawled to the front-line and began punching a polizia directly in his face... groaning with pain the polizia and his comrades managed to push her off the pile and at a distance where she could not inflict any further damage.
Finally I was able to pull up my camera and begin taping, at the same time, I waved urgently for my sister to get closer, she did the same - requesting that I get further away from the fight. The pushing match came to a halt minutes later as the protesters were barricaded behind a metal gate which was pulled in-between the two parties. The protesters could be barricaded but not quieted, pre-made banners were pulled out and taped to the metal gate, and the cheering and berating continued... it was magic... and I was feet from it, going crazy!! (sigh) It was so cool... Se la Vie!
No comments:
Post a Comment