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posted by CoolHand on Tuesday October 03 2017, @12:42PM   Printer-friendly

Police and would-be voters have clashed during a Catalan independence referendum held on Sunday:

Scenes of chaos and violence unfolded in Catalonia as an independence referendum deemed illegal by Madrid devolved quickly on Sunday. As police followed orders from the central government to put a stop to the vote, they fired rubber bullets at unarmed protesters and smashed through the glass at polling places, reports The Associated Press. Three hundred and thirty-seven people were injured, some seriously, according to Catalonia's government spokesman.

Spain's Interior Ministry said a dozen police officers were injured. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from Barcelona that some people were throwing rocks down at officers from balconies. Yet the violence came from all directions.

"Horrible scenes," Lauren reports. "Police dragging voters out of polling stations, some by the hair."

Scuffles erupted as riot police forcefully removed hundreds of would-be voters from polling places across Barcelona, the Catalan capitol, reports AP. Nevertheless, many people, managed to successfully cast their ballots across the region after waiting in lines hundreds-of-people-deep, including the elderly and families with small children, says Reuters.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that he did not acknowledge the vote and called it "illegal".

Also at NYT, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and BBC:

Catalan emergency officials say 761 people have been injured as police used force to try to block voting in Catalonia's independence referendum.

Update: Catalan referendum: Catalonia has 'won right to statehood'
Spain Vows to Enforce the Law in Rebel Catalonia
Catalonia Leaders Seek to Make Independence Referendum Binding

Previously: Spain Trying to Stop Catalonia Independence Referendum


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday October 03 2017, @04:20PM (1 child)

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday October 03 2017, @04:20PM (#576646) Journal

    Did he send more of them to beat up the pipeline protesters like Obama was doing before him

    Jesus christ, does anyone read anymore? The Army Corps of Engineers owned the land the protesters were occupying and they were the ones who called in police to remove them. Homeland security then got involved. The protesters bought a case against the project owners and that went to federal court. The Obama administration stepped in and STOPPED the pipeline construction temporarily. This wasn't a federal case until it was escalated from the local level.

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  • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday October 03 2017, @10:25PM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Tuesday October 03 2017, @10:25PM (#576821)

    Jesus christ, does anyone read anymore?

    They read Facebook shares from propaganda pages.