Protesters Throw Tear Gas Back at Police Near Ecuador's Legislative Palace in Quito

Demonstrators protesting fuel costs marched on and broke into government buildings in Quito, Ecuador, on October 8, according to reports.

Local reports said a group of protesters broke police lines and stormed Ecuador’s National Assembly, which is housed in the Legislative Palace, after President Lenin Moreno moved the seat of the government out of Quito in response to the ongoing unrest.

Protests in Ecuador have been ongoing since the country’s government passed economic reforms in the first week of October, specifically doing away with a long-upheld subsidy on fuel, causing a 100 percent increase in prices, according to reports.

In a press release on Tuesday, the National Assembly wrote, “The social fight in this country is historic and we are witnesses to its successes,” but said the protest was inauthentic and condemned vandalism and the destruction of public spaces.

Video from a local journalist shows several people throwing tear gas canisters back at police as hundreds of people rallied in the streets near the Legislative Palace on Tuesday. Credit: CHRISTIAN LGC. via Storyful