Raid on Athens supermarket raises concerns of violence
Around 30 assailants on Monday evening raided a supermarket in the downtown Athens neighborhood of Exarchia and made off with small gas canisters, rubbing alcohol and bleach, raising concerns in the Greek Police that they may be gearing up for violence.
The raid came a day before officers discovered a bag of Molotov cocktails outside a soccer stadium in the Athenian suburb of Nea Smyrni, just a few kilometers from the city center.
Protests have been banned in central Athens as part of stringent security measures for an ongoing visit by US President Barack Obama, but authorities are concerned that an unlicensed rally against the visit may spiral into violence after an anarchist group issued a call for protesters to take to the streets last week on an anti-establishment website.
