I was surprised to see several television cameras and reporters, as I had no idea that the occupation would get this kind of attention, as we’re a pretty small establishment, one which large-scale protests have rarely affected.

There has been a substantial if not majority student mobilisation effort since the introduction of the CPE, which blocked the doors of one of the main class buildings (these are small, three-story buildings, by the way) on and off starting about two weeks ago. They did not occupy the building, however–the people who did that were from outside of the school, either students elsewhere or none of the above. When I arrived Thursday, they were yelling and throwing things at the journalists and anyone else that happened to be standing on the sidewalk (they were inside of the courtyard, closed in by a gate). It was probably the fact that they hadn’t slept for three days, but when they tried to explain themselves they were incoherent and seemed drunk. They fought a lot among themselves, even, and seem to be the anarchist type. Most people around were calling them “marginal.”

At first, the police refused to interfere. The President of the school asked them to, and they said they couldn’t. I’m not sure why. Several teachers were there on wednesday, at which point they left, carrying out computers and monitors to save them from the damage that had already begun.

Most of the damage in those photos was caused by the occupiers, as it looks about the same as it did on Thursday, although obviously some things might have been knocked over by the police. I don’t know when classes will start again…

Is that an onion in one of the photos? Were they cooking?