When the World Bank cancelled its June 24 meeting in Barcelona in fear of protest, it was rumored that the G8 would hold its Genoa meeting offshore, to insulate itself from citizen concerns.
In response, a group of activists turned to Archimedes. According to legend, this ancient Greek mathematician
used several large mirrors to focus the heat of the sun onto invading Roman ships, burning them to a crisp and thus saving the city of Syracuse.
Although the G8 decided to hold its meeting on land, in a highly-fortified "red zone," the Archimedes Project organizers went ahead with their plans. Volunteers from the Makaya Refugee Camp distributed the pile of pink, blue, black and purple mirrors to a thousand activists, who used the mirrors to focus sunlight on police helicopters, tanks, and other assault vehicles, as well as into the eyes of attacking police.
Italian press characterized the mirrors as weapons, in keeping with the way the police described the cell phones and Swiss army knives they seized during their bloodthirsty raid on the Genoa Social Forum, where nearly one hundred sleeping pacifists were savagely beaten and tortured.