The Anarchist's Ball

I must confess my ignorance here. I honestly thought that, as a political movement, the concept of anarchy was dead throughout the world. It appears that I may have been wrong -- that or the term anarchists should read youthful hooligans who simply enjoy a good riot now and then. You know, shout some slogans, light up a car, meet like minded members of the opposite sex. It seems that this sort of anarchy is in fact still alive in the world, and its epicenter this date is Copenhagen.

Riots that have resulted in 643 arrests in Copenhagen are expected to continue this week after anarchists travelled from across Europe to protest against the eviction of anticapitalist squatters.

They were answering an appeal to demonstrate against the seizure by antiterror police of Youth House, a centre for far-left activists. Once host to Lenin, it has now been bought by a Christian group.

Barricades were set up in surrounding streets, cars were burnt and officers pelted with petrol bombs after clearing the building on Thursday. Police responded with teargas but the clashes continued despite the arrests that included 140 foreigners.

Niels-Erik Hansen, the deputy police chief of Copenhagen, said yesterday that the violence could continue for several nights. “We expect that the moves to detain violent people and to expel the foreigners involved can calm the situation,” he said. “But we also expect that they will not give in.”

Read the whole story here.