by Jack Lee
“Costas Karamanlis, Greek prime minister, called an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday night amid escalating violence in central Athens with rioters setting fire to dozens of buildings around the parliament square. Mr Karamanlis was expected to declare a state of emergency as police struggled to control a third day of riots in half a dozen cities around Greece.”
The rioting appears to be a mix of young thrill seeking hooligans and leftist radicals trying to exploit their energy and the recent tensions between those rampaging youths and the local police. Their political objective… to bring down the democratically elected conservative government.
Terrified shop owners and local citizens depended on the police to arrive to save them, but the police never came. What many business owners and locals discovered to their chagrin was they were on their own! They were abandoned and left to fend for themselves against the mob, the criminals, the looters and the arsonists. It was total anarchy and they had no where to turn for help…they were defenseless.
The citizens were unable to defend themselves, thanks to ultra-tight gun control laws, among the most strict in Europe. All the people could do was watch as their homes and businesses were firebombed and ransacked and pray they would not be killed. 
The police seemed to be taken by surprise and overwhelmed by the events. The Greek government was also slow to react and did not offer any immediate assistance. “Thousands of Greek youths on Monday took part in a third day of violent protests following the killing of a 15-year-old boy by a police officer in a students district of Athens.
Earlier as police fired teargas at the rock-throwing demonstrators in central Athens, shoppers fled into a nearby metro station. The central square overlooking the parliament building emptied after police buses blocked access to traffic.” Karen Hope.
Encouraged by the chaos and violence, leftists staged separate protests followed by a march to parliament. Alecos Alavanos, leader of Syriza, which is supported by many young Greeks, called for the resignation of the centre-right government in favor of the leftists party for change.