There are a number of conflicting accounts, but here's what I've gleaned based on reliable eyewitness testimonies:
For the past week, there has been a sit-in before the state television building in Maspero, by families of martyrs killed by the police during the revolution. After more than 5 months, only one policeman has been convicted, and he was convicted in abstentia. If he should be found, the verdict could be reversed. The trial of former Minister of Interior, Habib al-Adly, keeps being postponed. Police officers charged with torture and killing of protesters have not only be allowed to keep their jobs, they've been promoted and given even more authority. Recently there have been new cases of police torture and brutality against citizens, and the police officers responsible have remained free, while the "revolutionary" government promises to "investigate". In the early days after the revolution, the government declared that it would cover the medical expenses of the wounded, but it has not. There are still at least 7,000 protesters incarcerated by the military police. Mubarak is still languishing in his luxurious hospital in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and has yet to be tried. For these and other reasons, people are FURIOUS.
Even though they were camped out in front of the state tv headquarters on Maspero Street across the Nile from Tahrir Square, they were ignored by the state media.
Tuesday night, around 7:00pm, some unknown individuals went to them and told them that there was a ceremony to "honor the families of martyrs" in the state-owned Balloon Theater, and that they should go. Most refused to abandoned their sit-in, but some went, including an elderly woman and her only surviving son. Let's call them the "Maspero families". When they arrived, they were denied entry and found that the "martyrs" being honored were police officers!
They yelled out their anger outside the building. Three buses showed up; according to eyewitnesses the buses had no license plates. Out of the buses came a group of young men armed with clubs and knives, who began to claim that they, too, were relatives of martyrs, and began to attack the Balloon Theater. In the melee, police officers showed up and began to beat and arrest the original families. One officer slapped the elderly woman across the face, enraging her son, who attacked the police officer. Around 7 people from the Maspero families were arrested and taken away to the Ministry of Interior headquarters off Tahrir Square.
Meanwhile, police showed up at the original sit-in at Maspero, using clubs and rubber bullets to disperse the remaining families of martyrs there, who decided to move their sit-in to Tahrir Square. There, they found out about the 7 people arrested. The elderly woman was beaten and kicked in the stomach by police, then released, but her son and others were handed over to the military prosecutor for military trials.
At that point, the news began spreading via Twitter and Facebook and activists began flooding into Tahrir Square to join the sit-in in solidarity with the martyrs' families. There were around 2000 people in the Square when suddenly a massive police force showed up and the Square was engulfed in tear gas. There were regular police and the equally infamous Central Security Forces, followed by hundreds of thugs armed with clubs and swords and switchblades, etc., who launched a vicious attack against the protesters in Tahrir. The police and the Central Security were filmed throwing rocks at the protesters, in addition to shooting with live and rubber bullets and shot-guns.
Within a couple of hours, there were hundreds of wounded protesters, some gravely. Some of the activists noted that in addition to the standard tear-gas, a new kind of tear-gas was used: like the other one, it was made in the USA, but this one caused temporary paralysis and severe hives over any exposed skin, in addition to making it painful to breathe for hours or even days afterward. According to the printing on the canisters, they were manufactured in May 2011.
Far from being cowed, more and more Egyptians began to converge on Tahrir Square, setting up makeshift medical centers, to which others on motorcycle acting as "the people's ambulances" transported the wounded. According to the Ministry of Health, by yesterday evening there were 1114 wounded, some gravely. Eyewitnesses report at least 2 deaths, but we have no confirmation yet.
According to some activists who actually met the Minister of Interior at 3:00 AM on Wednesday morning, the Minister claimed that he had ordered the police not to use any violence against protesters, but merely to stand guard around the Ministry. In fact, there appeared to be three separate divisions of police, one of which did not use any violence at all and with whom there were no clashes, the one surrounding the Ministry. After listening to the activists, the Minister ordered the immediately withdrawal of all the police forces from the streets; only that division obeyed. The others were clearly following orders from somebody other than the Minister. They finally did withdraw, but only yesterday afternoon.
The silver lining of this is that this latest attack by the old regime reeks of desperation; even before this, the people were boiling mad at what they call the hijacking of their revolution by opportunists and agents of the old regime. The Military Council and the government were under incredible pressure to produce concrete results. A humongous sit-in is being organized for Friday, July 8, to present the original list of demands by the revolution, but this time the demonstrators won't leave Tahrir until they are met. On Monday, the highest Egyptian court ruled that the local councils be dissolved, a huge blow against the old regime. The main function of these local councils was to act as the old regime's hands and feet across the nation, and to falsify election results. More than 54,000 members of these local councils, 99% of whom were members of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, found themselves deprived of their very lucrative and powerful positions overnight.
Tents have been set up in the middle of Tahrir Square and Cairo is gearing up for revolution once again, once again to demand the downfall of the regime -- not only its head, but all of it. All of it, dammit. God willing, I'll be heading for Tahrir Square tomorrow and should have more information soon.
