The angry mob chanted “hands off youth” and “no fascists in schools” as they made their way through the streets. A huge fireball and several outbreaks of flames can be seen across downtown Athens in one of the most shocking rallies the country has seen in recent years. In one picture armed police with riot shields and can been see trecking through the fire and hurling teargas at the crowd.
Earlier the violence erupted as a group of hooded youths broke away from the march and hurled stones at police.
More than 2,000 police officers have been deployed to the area and were forced to use teargas to disperse the crowd.
The authorities formed protective cordons outside parliament and hotels in the city, while a helicopter hovered over the central Syntagma Square.
Two protestors were temporarily detained and one of them was injured during the brief unrest, a police official confirmed.
It is believed a second rally is planned later this evening.
On the night of December 6, 2008, hours after Grigoropoulos was shot, thousands took to the streets of Athens, torching cars and smashing window shops and looting.
The riots, which were also fuelled by anger over unemployment and economic hardship in a prelude to Greece’s debt crisis, lasted for weeks.
The police officer Epaminondas Korkoneas, 38 was convicted of the murder of Mr Grigoropoulos in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison.
The verdict from a panel of judges and jurors was 4-3 in favour of convicting Mr Korkoneas of intentionally shooting Mr Grigoropoulos.
Mr Korkoneas’s patrol partner, Vassilios Saraliotis, 32, was given a 10-year jail sentence for complicity.
Due to the upheaval caused the trial was moved from Athens to Amfissa – a small town 120 miles west of the capital.