Several hundred demonstrators gathered at Brussels’ Albertine Square on Saturday lunchtime to protest against the “Arizona government,” denounce alleged police violence and oppose education reforms.
The protest began at about 12:15 after calls from several organisations, and around 300 people gathered early on, with others joining in later.
A spontaneous march followed across Saint-Gilles, culminating around 13:00, when police held back the crowd. Some youngsters reportedly set barricades on fire and attempted to break through the police line, prompting officers to respond with tear gas near Chaussée de Forest.
The demonstrators then tried to find another route to the MR headquarters, but police pushed them back again in Rue du Danemark towards Brussels-South station. Protesters also set fire to a pile of shared scooters.
The protests concluded around 15:30, with police insisting that the situation did not "get out of hand."
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Addressing the crowd early on, Celia Ponce said relatively few young people were present because they were “afraid after unlawful police checks.” She said the demonstrators would continue protesting in a bid to “bring down the Arizona government.”
Protesters accused police of violence at previous demonstrations and chanted anti-fascist slogans, as well as “ACAB” and “down with the police state.”
Ponce said the groups were there above all to support young people. “We are here for young people’s future, for better work. We reject the Arizona reforms and the education reforms of the French-speaking education minister Valérie Glatigny (MR),” she said.
She also accused governments of wanting to “destroy public services” and said the Arizona government had to fall. “This government gets nothing right. The whole of society is angry. The only option we have left is to bring down Arizona,” she said.
Ponce also called for a general strike on 17 November in which “all sectors and groups unite.”
Before the demonstrations, she said "the aim" was to hold a peaceful protest, but could not guarantee that the crowd could remain calm.
