Early morning Saturday, Cairo was on fire. Looters were roaming the city. It has been reported that the National Museum has had multiple mummies decapitated and that there is a possibility that Tutankahmun's tomb has been damaged.
Eyewitnesses and journalists on the ground claim that the majority of the looters are, in fact, plain clothes Egyptian police disguised as protesters so that the blame will be placed on them. There was a curfew in place Friday night from dusk till dawn that was not being followed by anyone. Thousands of people were still in the streets. There were no police in the city. Egyptian state television was showing pictures of a burning, but a peaceful Cairo. Al Jazeera showed it's journalistic integrity Friday night by essentially calling "bullshit". They showed a split screen image. On the right was the state television feed. On the left was the Al Jazeera feed: what really was happening. From the New York Times:
"At one point, the screen was split. On one side was live video of a police van that had been set on fire by protesters defying a curfew, with the sounds of gunfire and explosions. On the other side was the scene being broadcast by state television: a quiet tableau of the night sky in downtown Cairo, with the message that a curfew had been imposed.
Al Jazeera’s news anchors often drew attention to the limits of their reporting, noting that they did not know what was happening in some parts of the country because phone lines had been cut. At one point, a correspondent warned that Egyptian security forces were poised to attack the building where the channel’s reporters were working. Anchors told viewers to switch to another satellite channel, and told them how to do it, in case its transmission was interrupted."
Saturday morning comes, and Mubarak sends out the military to deal with the protesters. His plan backfires. The video below shows a group of protesters coming in contact with a squad of police. The police start to fire shotguns into the crowd. Three armored military vehicles come in from behind the protesters. Instead of blocking the protesters in, they form a barrier between them and the police. The video below that shows another armored vehicle acting as a barrier against the tear gas canisters being launched by the police. In the second video, the protesters are even seen riding and dancing on the military property.
At 1:30am, local time Cairo, a reporter managed to Tweet out a message saying that approximately 6000 prisoners had escaped a local prison. Sky News later confirmed that is wasn't just an escape at one location, but at multiple jails and prisons around Cairo. The atmosphere is pure chaos.
The sun is up on Egypt again. Today, the women are leading the protests. The men of the family have been standing guard overnight to protect their homes from looters and local police. It is up to Egypt's mothers, sisters, and daughters to continue their fight for democracy. At this point, it appears to be just a matter of time.
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