Worldwide Chaos Erupting with Civilian Unrest

We can safely say that most people will not miss last year. 2020 brought with it so many disasters and catastrophes that people would rather pretend the year never happened. From wildfires to impeachments, the stock market crash, the Geroge Floyd protests, the explosion in Beirut, US presidential elections, the year just continued wreaking havoc. It was only towards the end of the year that we became hopeful again when vaccine talks made the headlines. But perhaps we were too hopeful, too soon.  

Any optimism that we had for 2021 was quickly washed away with the events that unfolded in January. With global protests occurring weekly, civil disobedience has become almost like a fad. In some parts of the world, civilians are speaking out against their governments, but mostly everyone is protesting new COVID-19 measures.   

Netherlands  

Dutch police have had run-ins with rioting civilians in at least ten municipalities in the Netherlands, including but not limited to Amsterdam, The Hague, Eindhoven, Stein, and Venlo.   

Unauthorized anti-lockdown gatherings were broken off by riot police using water cannons, batons, tear gas, dogs, and even horses. In The Hague, protesters set a police motorcycle ablaze after forcing the officer to flee. In Enschede, they tried to smash the windows of a local hospital. Police detained two hundred forty people in relation to the unrest, including minors.  

Czechia and Italy   

In Czechia, the Chcpl PES movement established in October 2020 has already orchestrated several protests against the coronavirus restrictions. They believe that shutting down restaurants only serve to damage the businesses and nothing else. Despite facing a potential $932 fine, one restaurant owner says the following:  

“I joined the protest because I think the government order and what it has been doing to us for the last five months is wrong. It can be seen that the number of diseases is still rising, while the restaurants have been more or less closed since October”. said Martin Macek, as reported by RT.  

Italy finds itself in a similar situation. “I have always wanted to stay open. I don’t want to close anymore. Either all business close, as we did last March, then that’s ok with me, but you cannot force me to shut down and leave other businesses open”. Mr. Vietri said, Speaking to Euronews.  

United States  

Following the disturbing events that occurred on January 6th when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, 25,000 National Guard troops were deployed to DC Washington during Joe Biden’s inauguration. Now, CNN reports that thousands of them will remain in Washington throughout Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. The move has angered some Republicans, who see it as a piece of Democrat-orchestrated political theater rather than a security necessity.  

Denmark  

In Copenhagen, a crowd protesting the lockdown torched an effigy of the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, before clashing violently with the police. Fireworks went off on Saturday as the so-called Men in Black took the streets of the Danish capital. Armored police engaged with the crowd, managing to arrest five rioters.   

Russia  

Russian civilians weren’t out to protest coronavirus measures but call for the release of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Russian government attempted to censor protest-related content on social media, but it was too late. Videos of Navalny egging on his supporters to take to the streets went viral across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Tens of thousands of protesters all across the country marched the streets yelling, “We will not leave!”  

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