Teenagers involved in violent clash outside Thessaloniki school

Two large groups of teenagers became involved in a violent brawl in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Tuesday morning, in what local media are describing as an ideologically driven clash between rival groups at a high school in the western suburb of Stavroupoli.

Reports indicated that the brawl began after some 30 hooded teenagers attacked a protest rally being staged outside the school by a group of its students who were protesting an assault last week against members who were passing out flyers with leftist-leaning content.

According to a witness of the brawl who spoke to the local news site Voria.gr, the hooded teens, who are believed to espouse far-right ideologies, had gathered behind the school building earlier in the day to orchestrate the assault on the march. They were seen in video footage shot on cellphones descending on the protesters in an organized fashion, armed with sticks and other weapons. They had their features hidden by masks, hoods and crash helmets. Witnesses reported seeing knives.

At least two people were injured.

“They should have been kicked out of school a long time ago,” the 17-year-old witness told Voria, describing the attackers as “fascists.”

“They could have hurt a lot of kids,” she added.