1st Hand Report from Egypt by a Nubian Steampunk in Second Life: Street Battles, Escaped Prisoners, Death in Tahrir Square

Ahmad Hosho is a longtime Resident of Second Life, creator of incredibly beautiful SL screenshot art depicting his unique style of Nubian steampunk flavored with hiphop and 70s retro, and as it happens, he's one of the few thousand or so Residents who currently live in Egypt. When the uprising burst out full last week, I contacted him for a first-hand report from his country. His answer was understandably delayed several days after the Mubarak regime shut off the country’s Internet connectivity, but now here it is. He offers a hair-raising account of the Egyptian uprising beyond what we usually see on the Internet and TV:

“In my real life I go down and do my duty in an informal security unit to help protect our streets... not less than four prisons were under attack by some unknown forces, which killed police men, opened prisons, and let prisoners escape with weapons.

“[They] were armed inside Cairo, and we -- the people -- have to go down to the streets in what looks to me like a real street war, to protect our homes... There were fights happening in Cairo, between citizens and criminals, exchanges of gunfire, and hand-to-hand fighting with simple weapons like wooden sticks and knives, etc...

"The people’s security groups which maintain security where I live were in communication with others to exchange information, even when there was no Internet, and we had to use our phones. This is why I’m talking about a large part of Cairo, Nasr City, Al Haram, Maadi, Helipolis. Yes, criminals attacked there and got caught. Criminals killed people, criminals even had fights with army units who joined us later to help in the street war, and criminals stole and destroyed shops...

"I am just showing you more of the big picture than just what you see in Liberation Square. A lot of Egyptians like me could never reach the Liberation Square [i.e. Tahrir Square], because we are busy protecting our homes, and technically going from Heliopolis [a Cairo suburb] to Liberation Square would take very long time. (You will pass through a huge number of informal security units which check you, your ID, your driver’s license, and maybe your car and your pockets.) “And Liberation Square is not Egypt, how much are those who are [there]? Say 1 million? 2 million? Even 3 millions? Egypt has a population of about 82 million... Tahrir Square and what happens there was a small part of -- but yet a very very important part -- of a bigger picture...

“A lot of people have been killed in Liberation Square, I am so sorry for that. Two I know have passed away, who are not close friends, but close friends of my close friends. So I am kinda seeing the situation is very dramatic right now from my side, as I am sure a lot of families are feeling the same as me.”

Comments

[Ahmad Hosho]

Yes, all of that is past now, and things are gradually getting fine again, any way I am sorry, I forgot to say a big thanks the army who joined us back days, and helped us to protect the country, and bring back the national security through these hard times, when policemen were not there, why policemen disappeared at some night? a lot of police buildings were burn, and destroyed, I don't know, my guess policemen were attacked too, just like prisons buildings, and may be some of them were part of that, no body is sure who exactly was behind that. They are investigating everything now and hopefully in future we can find an answer.

[Opensource Obscure]

"In my real life I go down and do my duty in an informal security unit to help protect our streets"

This sounds really, really creepy.

[Hamlet Au]

What exactly are they supposed to do when violent thugs are roaming the streets and most of the cops are acting as bad as the thugs?

[Rin Tae]

Thank you very much for this report. It is difficult to envision what is going on there and while I came from a country that freed itself from a oppresive regime around 20 years ago now, I still strongly belive that no regime can keep in power if the population decides that it is time for them to go.
I have been way too young to even remember those times however. So I only know it from books and the tales of my parents and their friends.

The situation in Egypt both fills me with hope for a change to freedom and democracy and fear for the people who are living through such chaotic times and have to go down to the street to defend their homes and loved ones from violent thugs.