- Update : Greek teen died from bullet ricochet: court sources, ATHENS (AFP) — Initial results from the post-mortem on a Greek teenager whose killing by police sparked five days of rioting show Alexis Grigoropoulos died from a bullet ricochet, court sources said Wednesday. According to forensic doctors and independent experts hired by the boy’s family, the bullet “is a bit deformed, which showed the bullet touched a hard surface” before entering the 15-year-old’s chest, sources agreed…
On the events on the evening of Saturday, December 6, 2008 and the shooting of Andreas (Alexandros) Grigoropoulos, via Deadeye on ANARCHISM.net forum, Tuesday, December 09, 2008, 03:26. Police accounts, faithfully reproduced in corporate/state media, and slightly adjusted over time to conform with alternative accounts, appear to be based on complete fabrications. That is, rather than police, in fear of their lives, firing a warning shot — which ricocheted and accidentally struck Andreas — tragically killing him, police appear to have deliberately and cold-bloodedly executed the teenager.
[Thanks to harryr.]
This video contains testimonies of some of the many eye-witnesses.
Here goes.
1st witness
-We saw them at some point, with guns in their hands walking down the street.
-Both of them?
-Both.
-And? Where did they stop?
-Here, right here. They started cussing here, “Come here punks, come and settle this”. Some kids approached.2nd witness
-During this verbal fight, we saw no objects being thrown, suddenly one of them pulls out his gun and opens fire, straight ahead. We took a careful look and noticed someone on the ground, being dragged away by his friends, probably in fear that he would shoot again. Anyway, this is what happened, the officers were just standing still and then walked away. They turned away and left, on foot.3rd witness
-I saw the extension of his arms, I saw him aiming. The extension of his arms, not the position of his body. I was behind him. And he aimed. He aimed towards the other end of the street, towards that group.4th witness
-They were exchanging words. It was intense. Suddenly, without any other intervention, the patrol car abruptly departs and some time later the officers return. They stood in front of the kids and gunshots were heard. One of the kids, fell.1st witness – resumed
-3 shots?
-3 shots because he didn’t hit him at first. This man wanted to kill. Simple as that.5th witness
-We heard two bangs. I immediately understood it was gunfire from the sound of the very first shot. I heard the second shot, followed by a scream and a kid falling to the ground. We headed towards the kid, we dragged him away.
-What did the police do?
-The police turned their backs, as if nothing had happened, and left. We lifted his shirt, he was bleeding. We gave him CPR, the ambulance was late.6th witness
-I saw the patrol car between Zoodoxou Pigis street and Tzavela street, it left but a minute later, the two drivers came back. They were both armed and they shot that kid, without a reason.
-Did you see them aiming?
-Yes, they were aiming.
-They didn’t shoot up to intimidate?
-No, they shot the kids that were standing there.
-Did they see the kid falling dead?
-Yes, someone shouted that the kid was wounded, but they turned and left.Those testimonies are a bit useless without knowing what the cops themselves testified.
They claimed they were attacked by a group of 30 hooded anarchists, with rocks, sticks and molotov cocktails, while in the car. They stepped on the gas to evade them, but later returned to arrest them. They were attacked once more and while in self defense, they threw a flashbang grenade, fired two shots in the sky to intimidate the attackers and one in the ground. The last one hit the ground but ricocheted.
They’ve been flipping their story until today. Their first two lawyers have already retired from their case, for ethical reasons. The ballistic examination was completed today. The bullet remained inside the body and it indicated that it came from a higher level (the pistol) to a lower level (the victim’s body). If it was indeed a ricochet, the bullet would have entered from a lower level (the street) to a higher [point], the point of entry in the body.
At first, all media adopted the cop’s case, spreading similar news worldwide.
Now, they talk about murder in cold blood.
A hard surface, a bit deformed…
There’s a thing called ‘bones’ in a chest.
…and a thing called a social movement out on the streets…
It’ll be interesting to see how Greek authorities handle the coroner’s inquest. The line seems to be that — following the defence lawyer’s lead — the death of Alexis / Andreas / Alexandros may be deemed ‘accidental’. No doubt the police forces as a whole would be much happier if their two accused comrades were exonerated: securing their continued obedience is obviously crucial if the Government is to maintain power. Fortunately, the far right is helping to provide reinforcements…
Greece: Fears of murderous night after ‘accidental death’ report
libcom
December 10, 2008
More riots across look likely tonight after it emerged that the coroner may record a verdict of accidental death over the shooting in the chest of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos – and militants fear that a reported mobilisation of fascist paramilitaries could mean more deaths…
…Police collaboration with the paramilitary organisation has been well-documented, with photos emerging in February of this year which showed Athens police sharing jokes with clearly armed Golden Dawn members before a street fight with anarchist groups.
In Athens, similar attacks by small groups of fascists have occurred, leading to at least one stabbing, according to some reports. However a strong response from the immigrant community, who have for years been the victims of violent racism at fascist and police hands which led to the death of a Pakistani asylum seeker just weeks ago, may prove enough to put off further attacks, according to the Occupied London blog: “This is not a time to panic, of course – we have so many new allies on our side that if we play this properly the fascists won’t dare strike again.
“The attack against the police station of Zefyri shows this: Zefyri, in the outskirts of the city, is one of the most deprived (if not the most deprived) neighbourhoods of Athens, with a large Roma majority population. At about 10pm tonight, a crowd of around six hundred besieged the police station, attacking it with molotov cocktails while a flaming car was driven toward the building (though stopped by guards before reaching it).”
A portuguese translation:
http://velha-toupeira.blogspot.com/2008/12/o-assassinato-policial-de-grigoropoulos.html
the bullet ricochet you mention was only told by the cop’s attorney today.
but no official statement has come up yet and noone else, in the parties involved, said anything about it.
so this is just fiction for the moment…
Firing three warning shots, in different directions, also would not seem to stack up even just by going on the media accounts; firing warning shots using live bullets is not common police practice anywhere that I’m aware of. Firing bullets into the air in an urban environment can also be potentially fatal. The fact that they fired “warning” shots at all suggests that the cops did not estimate that they were in a life threatening situation when they discharged their guns into the air (or, possibly, the ground).
It’s plausible, to me at least, that the death was not the intentional outcome, but the actions of the police were so negligent as to be criminal on a similar level to an outright execution. Of course, I reckon that if the monopoly of violence held by the police as agents of the State wasn’t seen as legitimate before, it is certainly seen as less so now.
So yeah. Fuck those cops and go the Greeks.
velha toupeira:
Cool. The truth will out, as they say in the Classics.
dpdt1:
Yeah, I know. The funny thing is, corporate/state media have immediately picked it up and run with it as The Truth.
Lumpen: One of the main problems with the police/defence account is the eyewitness testimony which contradicts it. Are all these people liars? Were they hallucinating? It beggars belief. The main function of the ricochet/magic bullet theory, as I see it, is disinformation — the provision of questions with which to confuse the general public and cast doubt on what appears to be — in the eyes of witnesses at least — a calculated act of murder.
True enough re: disinformation. My point being that the rage is real and undeniable. At this stage, anyone who thinks the death or riots can be undone by proving that the death was the result of a general scenario of injustice, as opposed to a specific incidence, is living in a dream world. The conditions were set before the murder. Unbaking a cake and all that.
The tragic incident that led to the death of 15 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos was seen by at least 60 eyewitnesses and recorded on video (you can look it up on a multitude of sites and blogs. It’s not very clear but still it shows that cops were under no threat at all. Instead they were shouting to the boy and his friends “Come here and we’ll show you”. One of the two “officers” was grabbing his balls showing them to the boys as proof of his “manhood”…). The cop aimed with his hands extended straight in front [of him]. A friend of mine (who is a lawyer) was there and accompanied the dead boy in the ambulance together with a doctor. He told us that when the people around started screaming “help, he’s got no pulse!”, both cops turned their backs and left walking with their guns still [in their] hands.
All this was witnessed by many as 6th December was a name day (“Nicholas Day”) and the street was very crowded by people going in and out to parties and celebrations.
Mainstream media is, as always, getting their news directly from the police headquarters. Although, this time, many well known Greek journalists differentiated their personal position and reported the true facts. This only happened during the first days when everyone here was surprised by the massive rage of the people’s reaction. Afterward, all the main news channels returned to their usual order… they repeat again and again the irrationality of violence and the financial cost of the burned bank branches…
Occupations of schools, universities and city halls are still going here in Athens and in several cities all around Greece.
The truth always comes out, but not in TV screens… in the streets, where life is real and vibrant. They have tried so hard for decades to lock us up in our homes, to make us afraid of the imaginary “danger out there” by intimidating reports in the news. There is nothing to be afraid of… but indoor death.
We call you to talk about it with your comrades, friends and families. To take it to the streets with public discussions and solidarity movements.
It’s not only the political cause, it’s also the personal sentimental change that comes when we get together and live out of our daily routine.
I was pretty much locked up home for more than a couple of years, with my girlfriend and 2 or 3 friends. Work home work home work home…
Last 2 weeks have been the longest and most truly alive I can remember for a very long time. It’s like being 15 again!
Thanks heaps V!
I am somewhat surprised to see the people in Greece respond to this incident, because I had anticipated that these circumstances were more associated with the police in my own country, the USA in general and San Diego, CA in specific.
While we had a recent death on our college campus, SDSU, it was not at the hands of police but was instead the result of a knife fight between two groups of youths. Still, the campus police found a way to cover up their NON-involvement, by MIS-representing the area where the fight took place; they reported a vague “near the Gym”, because a more specific: “In the street in front of the police station.” would have made them look bad. They campus police here are not above fabricating “evidence” to justify actions that are meant to control the student population.
i wasnt surprised by the demonstrations because in greece even if you have diplomas or talents the regime is not recognizing anything
the anarchist movement is getting bigger
and congratulations to gordon brown and barack obama for the withdrawal of american and british troops from iraq
they didnt have any right to steal the oil of this country
the oil belongs to the iraqi nation and noone else and this oil will provide them the prosperity that they need
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