People Power Overwhelms Police in Highfields: Security Forces Kill MDC Activist; Most Senior MDC Leadership Arrested (Tsvangirai, Mutambara, Biti, Chamisa, Etc.)

People Power overwhelmed the security forces in Highfields yesterday during a Prayer-Meeting cum Demonstration organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.  Security forces shot dead one MDC activist and rounded up most of the senior leadership of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Eye-witness reports from one Z.O.O.T. contributor who was at  Highfields confirm that the police were overwhelmed by protesters who fought back against the water cannon and tear gas attacks from the security forces.  Highfields residents provided assistance to the pro-democracy demonstrators, for example, by placing tubs of water outside their homes, which demonstrators used to wash their eyes and to soak cloths with which to cover their mouths in response to the teargas attacks.

There are unconfirmed reports that Morgan Tsvangirai was badly beaten and sustained head injuries.  He was reportedly moved multiple time during the night from one police station to another.

The government propaganda rag, the Herald, is at sixes and sevens with regard to how to portray the latest display of pro-democracy defiance of the Mugabe regime and its disinformation machine is in high gear. 

At one turn (in its descriptions of the "banned" rally at Highfields several weeks ago), it attempts to portray the the movement as being without support and turnout to be low; yesterday, when it became clear that they could no longer pretend that large numbers of persons were not in the streets, they describe the pro-democracy demonstrators as "thugs." 

More information as it arrives.