The Beijing Olympics Are A Protester’s Dream Come True

Protesters across the world deferred their Starbucks hating guts this week to disrupting the Olympic torch processions in Europe. 100%InjuryRate has the scoop on what went down Saturday in London; an episode that witnessed protesters lunging for the torch and trying to put the Olympic flame out with fire extinguishers. Cool, right? We thought the same thing. The disarray didn’t end there. Protesters in Paris managed to inflict some voodoo on the whole shebang and the torch was extinguished…twice.

Security officials extinguished the Olympic torch at least twice on Monday during a chaotic relay through Paris where thousands of pro-Tibet protesters tried to block its path.
The torch’s progress through Paris was regularly delayed by demonstrators protesting against China’s crackdown on Tibet after it set off from the Eiffel Tower. At one point it had to be put on a bus to protect it from the crowds.

Why don’t protesters take their own torches to the event? Did we just incite a riot? Shit. Actually, this was bound to happen given China’s human rights record. By the way, San Francisco is on the torch tour schedule for Wednesday. Hang out to your dreads because we’re in for a doozy.
Video of London protesters using fire extinguishers below.

Olympic Torch Extinguished Twice in Paris [Javno]
Image [IHT]
Video [YouTube]