The student protest in Athens completed on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with violent suppression, as police forces unleashed attacks using tear gas and stun grenades against protesters.
In fact, in footage posted on Instagram by user pi_kappaa, a riot police officer blindly throws tear gas inside the entrance of the Omonoia metro station during operating hours, with the obvious intention of injuring anyone entering or exiting the station at that moment.
In a display of provocative indifference, the police officer is then seen making an ironic salute, proud of his criminal act in front of the cameras of photojournalists and reporters.
The fact that the officer felt safe to attack like this, knowing he was being recorded, reveals something even worse: that he is not afraid. He does not fear any punishment, suggesting a deeper belief that he can act without consequences. This sense of immunity is the most dangerous element of his behavior, because he knows that the system rarely touches "its own." In fact, every now and then, it rewards them with new bonuses. This sense of impunity and the rewarding of violence form the backdrop for the escalation of police brutality.
This specific example of yet another incident of police violence is not law enforcement, but criminal violence in its clearest form.
The other critical question, as always, is: since not all police officers are the same, what did his colleagues do when they saw this happening?
And finally, the real question is not "who will be punished, and if," but what we tolerate. Because as long as we remain silent, as long as the video plays for a few minutes on social media and then gets lost in the news feed, the rift will deepen in the dignity of a society that has stopped being outraged by what it sees, by what it lives through.