Back in our apartment, as I uploaded the video footage to YouTube, I had to wonder, Why did I do this? Only later did I realize the reason: I was mightily pissed off. I had not expected such actions from a Bahraini government that I had been led to believe was focused on progress, with a vision for the future. The tactics I saw were as is from the communist Europe I had heard about as a kid. It confirmed what I briefly saw on Valentine's Day: that the security forces looked upon the protesters as something that needed to be subdued as quickly as possible, with little regard for what it took.

My wife and I watched the last of the protesters flee the vacant lot on foot; the security forces were pursuing them too aggressively for them to have time to get into cars and drive away. It was obvious that the police were not content on merely clearing the area; they seemed hell-bent on injuring as many of the protesters as possible. Even after the last of the protesters retreated to the surrounding streets of Sanabis, the bangs continued, even though the primary aim of clearing the roundabout had been achieved.

I had trouble sleeping after witnessing such brutality as I was still upset and angry at what I had seen. I tried to monitor the events by viewing comments on Facebook and was surprised to learn that many of my friends (most of them students from Bahrain Polytechnic) had already viewed the YouTube videos. I was also surprised at all the messages of thanks I was receiving, with many students also passing on gratitude from their parents. At the time I did not understand the significance of what I had done -- I also received warnings to be careful. I assured my friends that I was safe and that the violence had stopped, but the warnings continued, telling me that I may be arrested if I was not careful. In my eyes I had done nothing wrong and, if anything, I had merely captured video of a successful (albeit brutal) police operation.

During that Thursday, the roundabout was quickly cleared of anything that the protesters had left there. The many cars that had been left by their owners were simply dragged away by a fleet of tow-trucks. Most of the cars still had their handbrakes on or were engaged in gear and so there was the regular sound of car tires screeching as they were being taken away. This process lasted all day and into the night.

In the days that followed the "crackdown" at the roundabout I was contacted by CNN and the BBC by e-mail, asking me for permission to use my YouTube videos. I immediately said yes; the more people who saw them the better. Later, my wife and I got a buzz from seeing my videos on TV as part of the excellent BBC reports. Meanwhile, the entire area around us was surrounded by police, sending a clear signal that the protesters were not welcome back. I received a message from one of my students, very upset and afraid after she saw several "tanks" being transported on the backs of trucks past her house, headed towards Manama. The next morning, I saw them: a line of armored personnel carriers slowly making their way towards us along the main highway.

Soon there was a large military as well as police presence. The soldiers set up camp -- ironically, just as the protesters had done, with tents -- as well as generators and water tanks. They were digging in. Several large tanks were placed in the large vacant lot that had previously been filled with protesters' cars. The lot was also fenced in with razor wire, as if the police, soldiers, and tanks were not quite enough of a deterrent. It all served as a powerful message to anyone thinking of returning to the roundabout. Despite this, my wife and I decided to walk to Dana Mall, as we needed to buy some food. Several cars belonging to the protesters were still parked on the sides of the footpath, the owners having abandoned them in their haste to leave. Every single one of them had had their windows smashed.