The Lede Blog: Tear Gas in Tahrir Two Years After Revolution's Start

Last Updated, 11:28 p.m. Bloggers in Cairo reported that tear gas was fired into Tahrir Square by the police Thursday night, as Egypt braced for a day of protests to mark the second anniversary of the revolution that began on Jan. 25, 2011.

As the Cairene blogger who writes as The Big Pharaoh explained, officers from the Central Security Forces fired the gas at protesters after the crowd started to pull down a wall blocking an entrance to the square on Qasr al-Aini Street.

The activist Sherief Gaber, who writes as @cairocitylimits, pointed to video of cheers erupting from the crowd as the wall was torn down on Thursday.

Hours after the fighting began, The Big Pharaoh called the clashes “useless,” coming on the eve of planned demonstrations in the same area to note continuing dissatisfaction with Egypt’s postrevolutionary government.

After the wall was destroyed, the Cairo daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that soldiers had been deployed to build a new one on the same street.

At about 6 a.m. on Friday morning, The Big Pharaoh posted an image of clouds of tear gas in Tahrir Square and expressed his amazement that the police had apparently continued firing canisters throughout the night.

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The Lede Blog: Tear Gas in Tahrir Two Years After Revolution's Start