A third day of protesting rang out near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, as demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. Police fired back with tear gas canisters and tried to disperse the protestors as they drove through Tahrir Square. Several police trucks were set on fire as the protests grew more violent and demonstrators climbed through barbed wire fencing outside the embassy. At least 19 people were injured – 13 protesters and six police officers, Egyptian government officials said Thursday.
The clashes follow Tuesday's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other consular officials dead.
“What we’re seeing right now is a stalemate between the police and protestors. The protestors don’t seem to be giving up,” says CNN’s Ian Lee.
Lee adds, “These protestors that you see...the 200 or so… really don’t have the support of the entire city or the country because you’re not seeing more people come out and join them.” Lee says these demonstrators are different from the September 11 protestors. “That night we saw Islamists, we saw a very more ultra-conservatives, also some young youth but …these protestors are more or less disenfranchised youth...These are the hardcore protestors… The ones that we constantly see that are battling the police,” says Lee.