When an angry mob of ultra-nationalists descended upon an LGBTQ event in the Ukrainian city of Lvov, riot police proved themselves totally incompetent at protecting attendees from harm.
Not a single arrest was made, and police retreated from the confrontation.
In an attempt to sidestep a court ban on LGBTQ events in the city, organizers planned a private gathering at the Dnestr Hotel. About 200 people attended the “Equality Festival.”
Private security was placed at the conference hall entrance, with local police reinforcing.
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The main attraction at the event was supposed to be an exhibit of posters celebrating women and minority rights.
However, the event never took place. Instead, a mob of ultra-nationalist youths — many with faces covered with balaclavas — surrounded the hotel and demanded the event come to an end.
In a Facebook post, organizer Olena Shevchenko wrote, “We are blocked at the hotel. Police don’t want to react, they are saying all those people in masks just meet their friends there.”
Police tried to contain the crowd, chasing them to a park. That’s when the mob started throwing stones at the police and crying “SS” and “Hitler Youth!”
Authorities forcibly canceled the event, citing an anonymous bomb threat as the reason. Bomb squads were subsequently sent to search for explosives but found none.
Attendees were escorted from the building and led to buses by police officers.
Meanwhile, the ultra-nationalist group threw stones and firecrackers at attendees, shouting “Kill! Kill! Kill!” and trying to break through police lines.
According to RT:
What the LGBT community found most shocking is that police failed to arrest a single attacker. Instead, according to local media, the authorities opted to hold a series of ‘informative discussions’ with the youth, none of whom officially belonged to an organized party.
Despite the tense incident Shevchenko says the LGBT community will continue to fight for the “freedom and equality of all people.”
“Because today they hunt us, and tomorrow they will hunt others. There are no guarantees you won’t fall into the next group of ‘abnormals’ or ‘unnaturals’,” Shevchenko wrote. “It is necessary to stand up to this mayhem and lawlessness now.”
Watch:
h/t: RT
