U.S. Embassy Protest Turned Violent

A rally of indigenous protesters on 19 October 2016 at the United States embassy in Ermita, Manila turned violent. The protesters were demanding an end to the presence of U.S. troops in the country.

The Manila Police District (MPD) police tried to stop the protesters on their way to the U.S. Embassy but was overpowered by the incoming crowd. They were then forced to fall back before the U.S. Embassy gates.

The protesters were allowed to proceed with their program and could be seen Renato Reyes speaking on stage to the protesters. Nearing the end of the program the crowd began to become restless. It could be heard in the video that the protesters were starting to get unorganized and emotional. A left-wing speaker could be heard telling the protesters to not throw rocks. A report said that protesters were throwing bottles, paint bombs and rocks towards the police which prompted the police to fire tear gas. It was said that protesters then surrounded a police patrol vehicle and started hitting it with wooden batons according to Associated Press. A policeman tried driving the vehicle out and in the process rammed protesters and ran over a few.

In the video, the police tried stopping vehicles to arrest protesters inside.

Police vehicle ramming protesters

The police vehicle that was being beaten with wooden batons could be seen here where it rammed a crowd of protesters.

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