Egyptian police encouraging protestors

SOURCE: Egyptian Police Are Encouraging People To Keep Protesting Against The Muslim Brotherhood

Business Insider,

1 July, 2013

Our source on the ground at Tahir Square in Cairo, Egypt is telling us that Cairo police are reportedly encouraging protesters and saying they will protect the public from any Muslim Brotherhood government backlash.

Egyptians held a June 30, 2013 protest calling for the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood president Morsi.

This protest brought a promise from the military that if the "people's demands" were not met within 48 hours, they would step in to presumeably remove the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi from power.

The streets are still packed with people and Tahrir Square is overflowing with protesters. "It's unbelievable," Walid Ibrahim says from Tahrir Square where he's been camping out for three days. 

Ibrahim was our guide when we visited Egypt in early April and spent 18 days in Tahrir Square during the 2011 protests.

"I've seen people I haven't seen in two years [at the protest]." Ibrahim continued, "this regime is going down."

The expectation of the general Egyptian protesters in Tahir Square is that if the Brotherhood steps down, the Egyptian high court will preside over the country until a new election is conducted.

The Brotherhood's headquarters was reportedly overrun and looted, though Ibrahim says the the  structure is now well protected and the Brotherhood is shooting protesters with bird-shot loaded shotguns. 

Word on the street is Morsi and the Brotherhood are on their way out or risk arrest by the Egyptian military, but that doesn't mean people expect them to go peacefully. Protesters expect the Brotherhood to infiltrate public demonstrations and create chaos among protesters, a tactic we saw in April. 

To create chaos among protesters the Brotherhood will start skirmishes within groups that can escalate and spread. But as of Monday evening in Cairo, protesters say the scene is optimistic, excited and peaceful.

When we were in Egypt three months ago the situation was dire. People were fed up with the Muslim Brotherhood regime, frustrated by its similarities to Mubarak's rule and ready for another change.

 It looks like they may be getting that change sooner than expected.

Click here to see how the Muslim Brotherhood turned Cairo into a dystopia