i wouldn't have gone to athens if he had never died. the riots happened because of what happened to him- the collective outrage over his murder was the catalyst for widespread rioting that went on for weeks. it all happened last winter. and so i sat, last winter, at shot in the dark in tucson, supposed to be writing my thesis but distracted by all the youtube footage coming out of greece. it was all the same time as when i was planning my trip to france and decided i should pick one more place to go, since i probably won't be heading to europe again anytime soon. the riots were happening because alex died and so i picked greece.
he was with a couple friends and a cop rolled by. stories differ as to exactly what happened, but the basic outline is fairly consistent. it's pretty rare that cops go into that part of athens (exarchia) and when the car rolled by, alex and his friends yelled and threw rocks at it. the cops got out and one of them shot him. and so alex died- some punk kid just like so many other punk kids i know. with a sweet smile and a healthy mistrust of authority.
i don't really have a point, i guess. just looking at pics of alex and thinking about the kind of person he was and the significance of his death.
i wish people would be nicer to each other.
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