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In Photos: Here's What the Big Protest for the Missing Students in Mexico City Looked Like

Another big march for the missing students in Mexico on Thursday ended after protesters launched Molotov cocktails at the National Palace. See how it all went down.
Photos by Daniel Villa

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets once again in central Mexico City on Thursday — a national holiday in Mexico marking the start of 1910 Revolution — to protest the disappearance of 43 teaching students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School and the climate of narco violence and impunity generated by organized crime.

The Missing 43: Mexico's Disappeared Students (Part 1). Watch it here.

Protesters embarked from three points in the central region of the city, the iconic Angel of Independence Monument, the Monument to the Revolution, and the Tlatelolco plaza where, in 1968, as many as 300 demonstrators were believed to have been executed or disappeared by Mexico's police and military.

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The protesters on Thursday came from a wide variety of occupations and social classes, including students, grandmothers, and business professionals in suits. Some burned an effigy of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, and a small group confronted police along barricades near the National Palace, attempting to dismantle the barriers and launching Molotov cocktails at the palace's guards, just as others did on November 8.

Just before 10 PM, riot police sporting shields and helmets cleared out the Zocalo central square. Thirty-one people were detained, authorities said on Friday, including several photojournalists.

Mexico City police arrested people at random while the National Palace door burned. Read more here.

The sign reads, "Don't bow out, parents of the 43. We are with you."

Raw Coverage of the Mexico City protests. Watch the archive of the live feed.

Protesters spent hours streaming into the Zocalo plaza.

Confrontations at the front door of the National Palace began at around 9 PM.

The signs read, "I Am Fed Up," a reference to a statement made by Mexico's attorney general during a press conference.

Protesters at one point broke through barriers but were repelled by water hoses and fire extinguishers.

Photos by Daniel Villa