Around 60,000 protesters flooded the streets of Athens and other cities in Greece’s first massive anti-austerity demonstrations of the year.  Despite the peaceful nature of the demonstration, police got violent in a couple of cases.

Labor unions representing two and a half million workers called for the strike.  Workers with red banners and other signs marched in protest of the government’s EU-friendly spending cuts and tax hikes, which some are predicting will push unemployment to a stunning 30 percent this year.  Public workers stayed home in sympathy shutting down ferries, ports, public schools, and hospitals.  Flights and trains were kept idle for the duration.

At some point in Athens, someone allegedly threw a petrol bomb and police rushed in firing tear gas.  And then the black masks and rock throwing started.  Protesters reportedly overturned a police car in another city.