Vladimir Putin's Return To Presidency Preceded By Violent Protests In Moscow
More than 250 people detained, including protest movement leaders, in 'March of Millions' against inauguration.

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Taking a page from the Bloomberg book of beatings (or, did Bloomberg take his training from Putin/KGB? But... anyway, I digress...)

Quote:

One member of a dozen-strong group in Moscow that had set up two tents in the middle of the showdown on Sunday said he did not "want to live under Putin for the next 12 years". The 39-year-old, giving his name as Denis, added: "I want my children to live without Putin." Dozens more protesters sat on the ground, threatening to occupy the square, until riot police moved in. "It's scary," Denis said, "but I don't see any other way to act."

Thereyougoagain... Tents. Structures that scare the sh*t out of the ruling class, provoking Moscow police to go on a club swinging melee.

Quote:

Riot police rushed the crowd and flung protesters to the ground before dragging them away. At least two men had bloodied heads after being beaten by baton-wielding officers. Police also fired pepper spray into the crowd. Protesters grabbed officers' headgear, dubbed "cosmonaut helmets" because of their shape, and tossed them into the river or hung them from trees as trophies. One man stood in the middle of the tussle and shouted: "Tomorrow, our state journalists will tell us how correctly the police behaved." Two officers moved in and carted him away.

Reports from various sources estimate the crowd of protestors as very large, variably between 20,000 and 70,000 in the heart of Moscow. While initially a peaceful protest, police blocked a route to the Kremlin, a march destination significant as tomorrow's site of Putin's inauguration, provoking the crowd to start throwing rocks along with lit road flares and glass bottles setting off a full fledged confrontation.


The full story at the Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may....