Nerd News: American University in Cairo Press Offices Trashed

NOT COOL.  Blurb:

During the escalation of tensions in Egypt on Friday, police ransacked the offices of the American University in Cairo Press, a major force for academic publishing in and about the Middle East. 

While most of the American University in Cairo is located in a new office well outside the center of the city, the press offices overlook Tahrir Square, which has been a central site both for protests and for police attempts to crack down on the protests. 

Neil Hewison, editorial director of the press, posted an account of experiences there on the blog of Oxford University Press (which is the North American distributor for American University in Cairo Press). His post about Friday's events said: "Our AUC Press offices were trashed on Friday. The police had broken into the AUC to use the roof of our wing to fire on protesters at the junction of Sheikh Rihan and Qasr al-Aini (we found empty CS canisters and shotgun cartridges up there). And persons unknown ransacked our rooms. Drawers and files emptied, windows broken, cupboards and computers smashed. But it could have been much worse. Meanwhile, the violence may get worse before it gets better."