More than 70 arrested during Athens riots after Molotov cocktails thrown at police
Molotov-wielding protesters clashed with police in Athens, engulfing the area in flames at the weekend.
Footage shared on social media shows multiple burning vehicles in Exarchia, a neighourhood in the popular British tourist destination.
Fireworks and stones were also thrown at the district police station, local media reports, with parked cars and motorbikes set alight.
Athens police detained 72 people and reported one officer was injured during the turmoil, according to Greek channel EPTNews.
The disturbances started after a music performance in a nearby park, with the rioting extending to other streets, witnesses told the broadcaster.
According to Greek Police, a series of violent incidents took place late Saturday night in the Exarchia district.
Just before midnight, unidentified individuals launched attacks on officers stationed at the junction of Kallidromiou and E. Benaki streets, The Standard reported.
The assailants reportedly used Molotov cocktails and stones, prompting the police to respond with chemical agents.
The riots began just days after a bomb exploded near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece's main railway services operator.
The explosion Friday evening resulted in limited damage and no injuries. The perpetrators had forewarned of the explosion by calling two media organizations about 40 minutes before it happened.
It follows widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece's worst, in which 57 people were killed and dozens more injured when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.
The deadly accident exposed severe deficiencies in Greece's railway system, including in safety systems, and has triggered mass protests led by relatives of the victims against the country's conservative government around the accident's second anniversary.
Greece has been experiencing ongoing demonstrations in the past month.
Last week, thousands of Greeks gathered in Athens to demand higher wages to cope with rising living costs and a one-day strike left ferries docked at ports, flights grounded and trains at a standstill.
The conservative government has increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35 per cent to 880 euros since 2019. But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid fast-rising food, power and housing costs, Greece's largest labour unions say.
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With migrant communities already living in fear amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, raids carried out in downtown Los Angeles last week by federal agents apparently became a flashpoint for days of protests in America's second-largest city. The spate of protests, which have seen both peaceful marches and violent clashes with law enforcement, prompted the president to call in the military. The decision by President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard and Marines over the objections of local and state leaders has also set off a war of words between Trump and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The president has publicly called Bass and Newsom "incompetent" in the crisis, and the mayor and governor have countered that Trump is abusing the power of the Oval Office by sending in the military and alleging he is "escalating" an already volatile situation. 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With migrant communities already living in fear amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, raids carried out in downtown Los Angeles last week by federal agents apparently became a flashpoint for days of protests in America's second-largest city. The spate of protests, which have seen both peaceful marches and violent clashes with law enforcement, prompted the president to call in the military. The decision by President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard and Marines over the objections of local and state leaders has also set off a war of words between Trump and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The president has publicly called Bass and Newsom "incompetent" in the crisis, and the mayor and governor have countered that Trump is abusing the power of the Oval Office by sending in the military and alleging he is "escalating" an already volatile situation. 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Around 3 p.m. local time, a crowd begins gathering in the downtown Fashion District after ICE agents show up at an apparel manufacturing business. Aerial footage taken by ABC News' Los Angeles station, KABC, shows what appears to be ICE agents loading two white passenger vehicles with people in handcuffs. As the vehicles leave the apparel business, protesters try unsuccessfully to stop them, including one individual who was seen lying down in the path of one of the cars. Several hours later, a large group of protesters gathered outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse downtown, calling for an end to immigration raids in the city. Video footage shows protesters vandalizing the building, heckling police and throwing bottles and other objects at officers who used shields to protect themselves. Police in riot gear are seen confronting protesters with batons and what appeared to be tear gas launchers. 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Around 6 p.m., Trump signed a presidential memorandum authorizing the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles, saying it is necessary to "address the lawlessness" in Los Angeles. Bass and Newsom immediately object to the president's decision, saying it would only enflame tensions. Throughout the night, protesters still assembled at the downtown federal complex were seen throwing fireworks, rocks, glass bottles and other objects at police, who responded by firing less-lethal projectiles and flash-bangs to disperse protesters. June 8 National Guard Troops began arriving in Los Angeles around 4 a.m., taking up a position outside the Roybal federal building. The deployment marked the first time a president has mobilized a state's National Guard without a governor's consent since President Lyndon B. Johnson did so in 1965, when he sent National Guard troops to Alabama to protect civil rights activists marching from Selma to Montgomery. Twenty-two Democratic governors released a joint statement calling Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard "an alarming abuse of power." "Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with the state's governor is ineffective and dangerous," the joint statement reads. A large group of protesters began marching in downtown Los Angeles, chanting and holding signs reading, "Fight Trump." The LAPD goes on "tactical alert," meaning all personnel are to remain on duty as the city braces for another evening of protests. Despite officers using less-lethal munitions in an attempt to break up the demonstrations, protesters marched onto the 101 Freeway, halting traffic on a portion of the freeway running through downtown. Two LAPD officers were injured by motorcyclists attempting to breach a skirmish line police had established, according to officials. Video captured other demonstrators standing on an overpass throwing objects, including at least one scooter and bicycle, at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicle as the CHP attempted to remove protesters from the freeway. "Tonight, we had individuals out there shooting commercial grade fireworks at our officers. That can kill you," LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says at a news conference. Gov. Newsom formally requested that the Trump administration rescind its "unlawful deployment" of National Guard troops. June 9 At 12:11 a.m. local time, the LAPD declared protests in all of downtown Los Angeles acts of "unlawful assembly" and ordered people to leave the area or risk arrest. U.S. military officials confirmed that 700 members of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, are being deployed to Los Angeles. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he and Newsom are suing the Trump Administration, alleging the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have "trampled over" California's sovereignty by unlawfully invoking "a law that's intended to prevent an invasion by a foreign nation or [prevent] a rebellion or [in response to] local and state law enforcement [making] it so that the law of the United States cannot be executed." Returning to the White House from a weekend trip to Camp David, Trump told reporters it would be "great" if Tom Homan, acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arrested Newsom, although Homan says he and the president had no discussions about arresting the governor. In a social media post, Newsom said, "These are the acts of a dictator, not a President." As protests in Los Angeles entered their fourth night, photos from the scene showed tense moments as demonstrators confronted police. At one point, police said protesters near Temple Street and Los Angeles Street in downtown L.A. were throwing objects at police, and an LAPD incident commander authorized the use of "less lethal munitions" in response. June 10 Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum slams the U.S. for "criminalizing migration," saying Mexican immigrants are law-abiding citizens and necessary for the U.S. economy. At the White House, a reporter asks Trump if he would use the Insurrection Act as a response to the protests. The president responds, "If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We will see." "These are paid insurrectionists, these are paid troublemakers," Trump said of the protesters without citing supporting evidence. "If we didn't get involved" and send the National Guard, "right now Los Angeles would be burning, just like it was burning a number of months ago with all the houses that were lost," Trump said, referencing the January wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Mayor Bass said she and the LAPD are considering imposing a curfew and other responses, as police braced for another day of protests. Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman and a senior advisor to Defense Secretary Hegseth, shared a statement on X, saying that on President Trump's orders the Department of Defense is adding an additional 2,100 California National Guard to federal service "to support ICE & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties. The added troops bring the total number of National Guard members mobilized to go to L.A. to more than 4,000.
