On the morning of March 1, 2007, the Danish government sent police and an anti-terror squad to raid Ungdomshuset or ‘Youth House,’ once a hub for subculture in Denmark and the only sense of a home and family for some. Located in Copenhagen, the building was taken over by squatters who followed a anarchistic philosophy since moving in around 1982, when the city allowed the house to form. Due to pressures from the property owners, Faderhuset, a Danish evangelical Christian group, the city took action to return the property from its current 35 permanent residents to its owners. The early morning raid was seen around Europe, spawning local and foreign activists and supporters of the house to descend on the city in protest. A group of teen squatters from Århus, a town 300 km west of Copenhagen left to support their friends as soon as they heard the news. Attempting to avoid police who were positioned at train stations throughout the country, the group made their way to demonstrations that quickly turned violent, leaving much of the city burning over several days. After hundreds of arrests, deportations, millions of dollars in property damage, police fees and an offer from the city to purchase the building, it was demolished and Faderhuset put the property up for sale for 15 million DKK ($2.59 million) .

At the time, I was studying at the Danish School of Journalism in Århus for a semester and was drawn to this subculture after seeing some teens hanging out under a bridge in the center of the town. I went with them to an apartment they were squatting and would go with them to activist meetings. I heard about Ungdomshuset and knew something could happen, it was just a matter of time. So, the phone call came one morning around 7 AM before school. It was Daniel, sort of the leader of the group and the provider of shelter in exchange for beer or food. He said they were meeting at the train station to head to Copenhagen because the police began the raid. Their intentions were to prevent the loss of the house and were prepared to do anything in order to keep police out. By the time we arrived in the city about three hours later, the police had control of the building and set up a huge perimeter. Then the demonstrations began, leading to burning cars, molotov cocktails and cobble stones being hurdled everywhere. I went with my laptop, camera and two lenses, leaving the laptop locked in the train station figuring I would be sleeping on the street for the next couple days. This was my first time in a situation like this and I found myself running in to tear gas, wanting more. I want to continue to photograph and dig deeper into some of these people’s
lives, but can’t seem to get back to amazing Denmark.

John Tully graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in May 2009 with a degree in Photojournalism. Currently a staff photographer at the Midland Daily News since September, John interned at The Free Lance-Star, The Patriot-News, and The Washington Times while in school. He enjoys the daily grind of newspapers and eventually wants to end up at a place that can send him to cover international news or base himself somewhere as a correspondent. Growing up in a military family moving around every three years, he can’t sit still and is always searching for something. He also thinks it’s weird referring to himself in the third person. Thank you.

Photographs and Text by John Tully