We arrived home to see the news of the rent-a-crowd activists at Repubique. There was a helicopter flying overhead, constantly as we walked the 1 km to Republique. The roads around the square were blocked and there were 100s of police.

There was smashed glass, everywhere and in a small section there were the remaining shoes that had been laid around Republique by people supporting the climate walk but adhering to the state of emergency rules.

The march had taken place and most people had gone home by the time we got there, however, there was a group of 500 activists surrounded by 2000 police off to one side, across a road.   We were asked to move away from the area so walked back to the monument in the middle to find it surrounded by more police.

My analysis of the situation is still forming but I wanted to share the facts I saw.