Bloodshed at Minmatar rally sparks militant action

As was previously reported, last Sunday saw the Mass gathering of hundreds of Minmatar pilots and sympathisers around the Matari home planet of Matar in the Pator system. Whilst this rally, a protest against the enslavement of a third of the Minmatar race and the legal trade of such slaves even within their own borders, was intended to be peaceful it was marred by sporadic fighting and bloodshed.

The first casualty was Dragon Ramirez, who was killed at the hands of a fellow Minmatar because of a war between their corporations. Outrage flowed at this action, pilots all shouting “If we cannot even act peacefully with each other, what hope do we have for freeing out people?”

The unity and peaceful nature was once again strained when the Archangels showed up to perform their, still unclear, tests in the solar system. The protesters managed to retain cool heads and not a shot was fired.

The final spark, however, came when Amarr Loyalist corporations PIE and AMAX arrived en masse at the demonstration. They proceeded to attack the attending pilots with which they were at war.

This attack on an attempted peaceful protest has fuelled the fire of an already volatile hatred between the Minmatar freedom fighters and Amarrian loyalists. The Minmatar have sworn vengeance and have called upon all pod-pilots who sympathise with their cause to help them attack Amarr slaver convoys this coming Sunday, in an attack hoped to span a great number of the Empires systems.

Khaldorn Murino, a Minmatar freedom fighter from the FU2 corporation, who is very vocal about his opinions in this conflict said, “We had hoped the demonstration would at least merit a response from our government, we cannot seem to achieve much by peaceful demonstration. We hope to send a clear message to all the nations of EVE that we will not stand by while a third of our entire race remains enslaved to the Amarrians. CONCORD and the Empires turn a blind eye to our peoples suffering, even my own officials seems to not to care and allows slavery to continue within its borders. I urge all freedom loving citizens to lobby their governments, we are pod pilots are the elite of our nations, we must make our voices heard.”

The Amarr however have been very vocal in the public arena, defending their actions, claiming that the Minmatar “freedom fighters” are no more than terrorists with double standards. Hardin, spokesperson for PIE has continually made reference to the fact that Masuat’aa Matari, a freedom fighter corporation, have been known to attack pilots with standings of +2.0 or greater towards the Amarr Empire, regardless of race or intention. Whilst they have not denied these claims, they have said that anyone found supporting the empire will be dealt with unless they explain the reasons behind their standings.

No-matter what the facts are, and what disagreements fuel the pilot’s actions, this Sunday could light the touch paper to an explosive situation, reaching far beyond the borders of the Empire and Republic.