Raid on the Diaz School
an eyewitness Report from the IMC

I was working for the Indymedia Center when the police did raid the Diaz School.

Meanwhile its three month ago but its still for me like it happened just yesterday

Cause the website of indymedia was temporary down we decided in the morning of J22 to arrange a dispatch in the street in front of the IMC. We put a table with a map of Genoa on the street in front of the IMC (across to the Diaz School) to collect and to spread informations about the manifestation. We did manage as well to put out a box that people could hear the IMC radio.

There was one suspicious event: some cars did rush through the crowd in the street, we considered that this have been some nazis.

Already in the noon we got afraid that police will raid our place - the demonstration was very closed to us and riot police was just a few hundret meters away. Teargas was to smell and the people inside of the IMC where forced to close the windows. We closed the dispach and went into the court of the IMC building. But after a while we went outside again, it seemed that the situation was getting more calm.

Cause in the building of IMC there was a medical station as well, and always ambulance vans where comming with victims of police brutality, we decided now not to put the table in front of the IMC but to put it into the court of the Diaz school, across the street.

We kept the dispatch there until late night, when police did start the raid. Aproximately one hour before the raid a few cars did rush through the crowd again. A few bottles where thrown against them but we did calm the bottle-throwers...

and then .. the Police came...

RIOT POLICE! Every wo- man for himself! was the "order" of the instance. With me there has been a woman from italy together with her dog on the dispach, but I did forgot them and I did run away into the IMC - instinctually - though the way was farer than to go into the Diaz School. IMC & GSF people which guarded the gate let in as much as possible people until the poliche reached the gates, then we closed them. We closed any doors and build barricades, anyone was very much afraid.

In the floor of IMC we did await what happens next. We remarked that the Police was raiding the Diaz School. But they did raid us imediately afterwards. They did broke all doors (this was not really a good feeling to hear how the police did break our doors) we build barricades at the door of the IMC floor but we kept it open until the latest moment before the police came because there were still people which did search refuge at our floor.

Than they came: anybody into the floor - sit down - shut up! Riot police did walk up and down the floor, they entered the rooms and did confiscate some "evidenciary" materials (like helms, gas masks, knifes, computer-discs etc.)... One notice: most of the officers did wear ordinary streat clothes below their uniforms, gym-shoes, jeans etc, like those which have been seen on pictures together with agent-provocateurs...

After a while (Time wasn't to count for me) the situation got calmer. People did ask police for water and for cigarets and they recived some. A pot of food has been circulated....

And suddenly police did leave us. Afterwards I heard that a parlamentarian has been among us who did confront the police action courageous.

We imediately went to the windows to see what was happening across the street. We saw that a lign of police did bloc the entrance to the school and we saw how injured people where brought outside. There where two black bags among - we thought: two deaths!. Many cried: "assassini!" (murder!). And at least we saw how someone did honour an officer with a tricolore (a banderole with the colours of the flag of Italy)...

Most of us where traumathized, we took refuge with ourselves, many did cry (me too), nothing was like before, from now on there was just an ante & post J22 for us... a few intrepid "heroes" did continue the IMC work to report imediately what happened.

p.s.: There was another detail which we remarked after the police left us. At the backyard of the IMC/GSF Building there was a door wich was never used by us and which was normally locked. But now it was open. And the gate in front of this door was welded open...

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