In fact, they aren’t yet. By 7:30 pm Monday, fights center on Rákóczi út, with police pushing one wing of the protesters towards the Erzsébet bridge and the other wing towards Blaha Lujza tér. I arrive at the latter just in time to witness the entrée of a bunch of bikers decorated with Hungarian flags and other nationalistic paraphernalia. The bikers share one more thing: their mufflers have been removed or altered to sound like T-34 tanks - or worse. There’s cheering and applause from the crowd despite the fact that the bikers don’t do much except showing off with the noise they create and posing for pictures.

Masked rioter perched on top of a public phone box near Blaha Lujza tér
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Every single person in the crowd seems to carry a camera cell phone, and every single person is using it – it’s hard to tell reporter from spy, rioter from undercover cop.
The most active rioters are dressed in hooded sweaters, their faces masked to avoid identification and incoming gas. They raise a barricade from rails abandoned by the police, but they also use some fencing material supposed to protect a construction crane. Construction workers guarding the crane simply look away.
There are surprisingly many kids (aged 12 and up) on the streets. “Now, they’re coming”, says a young guy to an equally young friend when he suspects police are about to launch an attack and break through the barricade. He turns around, produces a lighter and sets on fire what seems like part hand grenade, part ancient torch: some black material spread evenly on a wooden stick. There’s no attack though, the instrument is saved for later use.
Later in a side street, some friends see three 15-16-year old, masked kids making Molotov cocktails using Fanta and Coke bottles, gasoline and some thread stuck into the bottleneck.
I leave Rákóczi út to look around and, and on a corner, I notice dozens of mounted police lurking in the dark, ready to storm the rioters. But the final attack won’t start until 10:30 pm; meanwhile, protesters entertain themselves by lighting trashcans and shouting the slogan of the day: “Gyurcsány, takarodj!”, calling for prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s resignation.
The other wing of the protesters, lined up at the bridge, will hold its positions until long after midnight.