Warning: Video contains blood and disturbing scenes of violence
It’s not clear
from the first seconds of the video who is firing or from where, but the rapid
fire of the assault rifle is unmistakable. With the shots ringing so clear over
the shouts of the crowd, chanting in support of deposed President Mohamed
Morsi, so is the proximity. The camera jumps, some protesters step back or turn
to run. In only a few shorts seconds – so short, he must have been awfully
close – three men carry a fourth back through the crowd, limp and covered in
blood.
Then,
at 50 seconds into the video, embedded below, the cameraman pans up to see a
soldier in military camouflage peering over the top of a building. The soldier
aims carefully before each shot – fired, it’s not clear at whom, somewhere into
the crowd. More bleeding young men are carried away.
It’s difficult to know for sure the exact
provenance and timing of this video, which has circulated widely in and outside
of Egypt since military troops opened
fire on pro-Morsi protesters this morning, killing at least 40 and
injuring 300. It’s purportedly taken from outside Cairo’s Republican Guard
headquarters, where Morsi’s supporters believe he is being held and where
Monday morning’s violence took place. Separate BBC footage appears to show clashes and a body bag
loaded into the back of an ambulance, although it’s not clear if this is from
the same incident.
A
military spokesman says the troops were defending against armed Morsi
supporters; the protesters say soldiers shot at them from rooftops and behind
barricades without warning. The video does not definitively prove either of
their stories – it is far too narrow and bereft of context to tell us the
broader story of what happened – but it is a disturbing moment.
The video was clearly taken during the
day; Monday’s shooting mostly occurred during or before dawn. Wall Street
Journal report Tamer El-Ghobashy says that several witnesses told him the
episode continued until about 8 AM, by which time Cairo is quite sunny.
Washington
Post correspondent William Booth visited the Republican Guard headquarters
later in the day, where he found protesters and troops still gathered. Here are
a few of his photos from the scene, some of which appear consistent with the
buildings in the above video:
Gunmen on Cairo roof shooting at pro-Morsi protesters - Truthloader
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