December 6th marks the anniversary of the murder of fifteen-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police officer Epaminondas Korkoneas in 2008, an act that stands as a landmark case of police brutality in Greece.
In more peaceful times, Greek society would mourn the death of a teenager and then consider that law enforcement does not routinely include killing a boy in cold blood.
After all, police are here to protect and serve rather than seek revenge on a minor delinquent act of a teenager.
Former Officer Korkoneas claimed that Grigoropoulos threw a bottle at his patrol car when he was cruising in Exarchia. He then returned on foot with his partner and claims that he fired his gun in the air to scare the boy and teach him a lesson. Yet, somehow, his two “warning shots” proved to be fatal.
Korkoneas and his partner were tried and convicted. The culprit received a life sentence.
But that was not enough for the angry youth of Athens, who, as soon as the news of the killing spread, turned Exarchia and the center of the capital into a battleground between them and riot police.
For hours, parts of the area were in flames, and storefronts, bus stations, and apartment building entrances were destroyed. Several policemen were injured.
Unfortunately, for Athens, the destructive riots of that night became a sad and unnecessary annual tradition. Every year since that time on December 6, 2008, central Athens reverts back into a battleground of retaliation. Blind rage against police and anyone who is not young and angry against society generally takes over.
The night of December 6th has become like the night of November 17th—a night of violence, mindless vandalism, and blind destruction. The anniversary of the death of an innocent teenager is not a day of mourning, as it should be, but just another excuse for anarchist groups to launch an attack against their big enemy—society.
Anniversary of Alexandros Grigoropoulos an excuse for violent protests
Even the memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos himself has become besmirched by the events to the point that many of those who pretend that they mourn him on December 6th call him “Alexis.” This may be because it is easier to say than Alexandros, but, more likely, it is because they never bothered to find out what his real name was.
On December 6th, students supposedly rally in his memory. Initially, Grigoropoulos’ death symbolized the killing of young people’s dreams in a country in economic crisis. Korkoneas is the “old” who stands against anything that is young and new.
For students, however, the rallies soon became an opportunity to protest over education and school issues, the economic crisis, and what they saw as the bleak future ahead. For some, it is a good day to vent some teenage angst alongside their peers.
For anarchists young and old, the murder of Grigoropoulos was just another example of authority throwing its weight against anyone who dares to question it. It is symbolic of a state with a license to kill and is a bona fide opportunity to destroy and cause havoc.
Hence, the memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos is slowly fading in the smoke of firebombs and the deafening sound of stun grenades. The boy with the sweet smile in the Sex Pistols T-shirt is no longer with us in a tragedy in memoriam. Now, he is a convenient martyr of the church of nihilism—or, at best, the poster boy of rebellious teenage fantasies.