[13] Instead, the two special guards chose to station their police vehicle outside the PASOK headquarters, left the car and went to Tzavella Street on foot, in order to confront the youngsters.

[19][20][21] The victim, Alexandros – Andreas Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος – Ανδρέας Γρηγορόπουλος) was a 15-year-old student, who lived in the affluent northern Athens suburb of Palaio Psychiko and attended the private Moraitis School.

According to the memorandum, Grigoropoulos was a teenager from a wealthy family, he frequented the Exarcheia district, had allegedly taken part in riotous activities that took place following the end of a basketball game two hours before he was shot, and that, in general, "the victim did not show the expected behaviour and personality of a 15-year-old adolescent.

Meanwhile, similar demonstrations were reported in other Greek cities as well, including Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Komotini, Kastoria, Patras,[49] Tripoli, Volos, Chios, Trikala, Mytilene, Agrinio, Kavala, Corfu, Piraeus, Chania, Heraklion, Rhodes, Karditsa, Lamia, Stylida, Drama, Xanthi,[50] Lagkadas,[51] Kozani, Alexandroupoli, Larisa and Corinth.

[51] Rioters also set fire to the Kostis Palamas building that led to the total destruction of the European Law Library situated at the corner of Akadimias and Sina street.

[63] The Greek department of Amnesty International canceled the scheduled celebrations on 10 December for the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in response to the police violence in Greece.

[69][70] Despite the fact that the protest in front of the Greek parliament was relatively peaceful, the riot police attempted to dissolve it at 1:30 (local time) by using tear gas and violence.

[93] Student protesters evaded security guards at the Acropolis of Athens and unfurled two giant pink banners over a wall near the Parthenon to rally support for continued demonstrations.

[103] On Thursday, 18 December 2008 demonstrations took place in central Athens,[104] more than 12,000 protesters crowded the streets near the Greek parliament in a peaceful demonstration in central Athens[105] which turned violent when a group of protesters broke away from the rally and threw rocks and firebombs at police and buildings near Parliament, overturned a car and set fire to trash cans, splashed the police with red paint and tried to burn down the city's main Christmas tree which had just been replaced after being torched during the previous week's riots.

[113] On Saturday, 20 December 2008 about 150 youth attacked the Christmas tree at Syntagma Square in central Athens, at around 16.00, hanging trash bags from its branches before clashing with riot police.

[123] On Thursday, 25 December 2008, in central Athens and the suburb of Palaio Faliron there was a string of arson attacks against banks and car dealerships, causing widespread damage but no injuries.

[128][129] In the early morning of Monday, 5 January 2009 at least two masked gunmen fired over 20 rounds at a riot police unit guarding the Greek Ministry of Culture in central Athens, hitting a 21-year-old officer in the chest and groin.

[148] Afterwards the influential Journalists' Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) protested to the Ministry for the Interior and Public Order about "the brutal attacks and beatings" to which reporters and camera crews had been subjected by some riot police units.

[148] Protests were carried on Thursday, 15 January, policemen labor unionists also took part in the demonstrations "to condemn the violent phenomena, from wherever they come, and to state categorically that social problems are not solved by repressive measures".

[153] The death of Alexandros and the subsequent events galvanized many in Athens including Protester bank robber and hunger-striker Nikos Romanos who was with Alexis on the night of the murder, reporting that he had died in his arms.

[155][156] Many people were concerned with corruption scandals, most of which involved mishandling of public money, the spread of poverty, the increasing rate of unemployment amongst young graduates[157] and the slowing economy during Great Recession.

[160][161][162][163] International Monetary Fund Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned that there was a risk of social unrest spreading unless the financial sector shared wealth more evenly.

[168] Police, also, made a preemptive raid on an Protesters hangout in Keratsini near Piraeus on Saturday night detaining 22 people, including Albanian, Italian and Spanish citizens.

They discovered some 200 empty bottles they believe were going to be used to make Molotov cocktails, two jerry cans of fuel, two hammers, three sledgehammers, three helmets, 13 gas masks and a stun grenade.

[169] On Sunday, 6 December 2009 at 11:30 pm a memorial gathering, at the cemetery where 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos is buried, took place in the presence of his family and was attended by hundreds of people including the Greek Minister of Education.

Authorities said 134 people were detained for public order offenses in Athens and 80 in the northern city of Thessaloniki, where a similar demonstration also ended in violence, with youths throwing petrol bombs at police and setting fire to cars.

[181] Also in an interview on 13 December, the Archbishop added that the "youths are not enraged for no reason" and stated his belief that the effects of the Great Recession coupled with the large unemployment rate are the causes of this violent outburst.

[186] On 16 December, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis speaking to New Democracy (Greece)'s parliamentary group, condemned the killing of the 15-year-old by the policeman, while calling for all parties to isolate rioters.

[187][188][189] On 10 December the Communist Party of Greece's Central Committee released a written statement where they said that "an effort is being made by the bourgeoisie state, the ND government to utilise the blind violence of the hooded people, which we are witnessing mainly through the television channels, to check the swelling wave of discontent and popular intervention that is developing.

"[229] On 12 December, PASOK leader George Papandreou speaking before his party's political council members blamed the ruling New Democracy government for the recent violent street protests in Athens and other parts of the country.

[233] Aleka Papariga, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Greece, called the leadership of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) to "stop patting the hooded rioters on the back".

[236] On Thursday 11th, Georgios Karatzaferis referred to a press release of the newspaper "Adesmeutos Typos" which, he claimed, had an MP of the Coalition supporting "the terrorism" instead of condemning the riots.

[237][238] On Friday 12th, in the parliament, MPs of both ruling New Democracy and the PASOK opposition criticised SYRIZA for not condemning the riots, and for Alexis Tsipras's statement that "the struggle must be moved in the schools".

[240][241] 'Breaking news' bulletins and other mass media accounts of the shooting reported that an unprovoked attack had taken place against the police, favoring a narrative of 'riots in Exarcheia' that sidelined or trivialized the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

However, the existence of eyewitness video footage of the event and its circulation along with other alternative accounts on social media, changed the predominant perception from one of an (Protesters) attack against police officers in the 'notorious' neighborhood of Exarcheia to one of a 'rogue' policeman killing a kid.