REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Al-Ahly fans, also known as "Ultras", shout slogans against the Interior Ministry in front of the Al-Ahly club after hearing the final verdict of the 2012 Port Said massacre in Cairo.
REUTERS/Amr Dalsh
Al-Ahly "Ultras" surround the interior ministry.
An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences for 21 people involved in a deadly 2012 soccer riot. The court also sentenced 22 other people to lesser sentences.
And the reaction that everyone feared is happening right now.
Fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club — aka "Ultras" — stormed Egypt's soccer federation headquarters and set it on fire, as seen in the right picture tweeted by Mohamed Soliman. They have surrounded the interior ministry.
Egyptian security forces have closed off all routes leading to Tahrir Square, according to AP.
Egypt's interior minister has declared a state of emergency due to intelligence that jihadists might attack police, according to state news via Reuters.
Two people have been killed, one protester during clashes in Cairo outside a hotel, CNN reports. Fifteen others have been injured, the majority from smoke inhalation as small fires rage throughout the city.
Al-Ahly fans also broke into an exclusive police officer's club and set it on fire. Residents were using garden hoses to put out the flames as crowds blocked fire trucks from getting to scene, Xinhua reports.
We're adding live updates to this developing situation.
There were huge riots in late January when the 21 defendants were originally sentenced to death, and more deadly riots leading up to today. Things have been getting so heated that police went on strike, claiming they were not equipped to deal with violent protesters.
The case is related to a February 1, 2012 soccer riot between fans of Cairo's al-Masry and the hometown al-Ahly club. More than 1000 were injured and at least 79 were killed. The next day two died in the city of Suez and more than 900 were injured in Cairo as hundreds of protesters attacked the security forces' headquarters in Suez and Cairo protestors gathered in Tahrir Square.
Meanwhile, Egypt continues to fall apart, as Islamist President Mohamed Morsi fails to reform the country, while his Muslim Brotherhood threatens to boycott elections. Violence is ever-present and seems likely to get worse as people express disappointment in the results of the 2011 Revolution.