2002 Paradise City Anti-LGBT Protests
| 2002 Paradise City Anti-LGBT Protests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 A damaged police car during the 2002 protests near the Monsan embassy | |||
| Date | 02 December, 202 | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by | Legalization of gay marriage in Monsa | ||
| Methods | Rioting, assault, arson | ||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
| |||
| Casualties | |||
| Injuries | 95 | ||
| Arrested | 200+ | ||
The 2002 Paradise City Anti-LGBT Protests was an incident of civil unrest outside of the Monsan embassy in Paradise City as a result of the Principality of Monsa becoming the first nation in Astyria to recognize gay marriage. Anti-LGBT and anti-government protestors clashed with Paradise City police and Monsan security forces in and around the Platea Monsa for several hours, resulting in dozens of injuries, hundreds of arrests and millions of dollars worth of damage to the city and embassy.
Events
The Monsan embassy became the site of violent protests after the Monsan government announced that it would become one of the first in the region to legalize same-sex marriages. At around 12:00 on Dec. 2, just a day after the Monsan government announced their decision, crowds began to gather at the embassy with ringleaders charging that the Monsan government was ushering in a new era of debauchery, and many attempted to gain access to the palace building.
Members of the Carabiniers of Monsa, who were employed as security at the embassy, swiftly moved to meet the protesters armed with riot shields and tear gas, and fighting broke out at approximately 13:45. During the ensuing clash, several protestors were injured but the Caribiniers were able to maintain their positions outside the embassy. Local Paradise City Police responded to the situation within minutes after the crowd's gathering, but were unable to get to the embassy due to the mob occupying the surrounding streets, and with the crowds being relatively peaceful for the first hour of the gathering opted not to engage in order to maintain the peace.
At roughly 14:05 officers finally began to do battle with the crowd after realizing that protestors were engaged with Monsan security. The charge by the policed confined the mob between them and the Monsan Carabiniers, and many crowd members decided to break into the buildings around the platea and stores along the surrounding streets in an attempt to escape the tear gas and clubs of the officers. After nearly an hour of street fighting, organizers of the crowd managed to pull together enough individuals to charge the line of Paradise City police officers at the north end of Via Marius VIII, causing the heaviest fighting of the day. In total, two protestors were killed and dozens of officers and protestors were injured in the melee that followed.
Aftermath
By the nightfall, the police had apprehended hundreds of individuals in connection to the riot, and several million dollars in damage was done to the high-end shops along the street where the riot took place. The government of the Blackhelm Confederacy issued a formal apology on behalf of the nation for the damge done to the embassy, and additional police patrols were added to the area around the Platea Monsa.