Egyptians enraged by Saturday's court decision to drop murder charges against Hosni Mubarak took to the streets of Cairo on Saturday where they were met by tanks, barbed wire fences, tear gas and army units ready to repel any effort to gain access to Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution that led to the former president's overthrow.

As The Independent's Jon Stone reports:

News that the ousted president had murder and corruption charges against him dismissed by a judge brought demonstrators out onto the streets of Cairo at the start of the weekend. On Saturday some 2,000 young people protested the verdict near Cairo's Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the nation’s 2011 uprising. The square itself was closed off by soldiers and police. "The people want to bring down the regime!" protesters shouted, echoing one of the most prominent slogans of the 2011 anti-Mubarak uprising. Protesters were further incensed after Mr Mubarak gave a television interview after the verdict in which he said he “did nothing wrong” during the 2011 clashes that left at least 200 protesters dead.

Journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous covered the development of the protest in a series of tweets on Saturday night:

Crowd protesting Mubarak acquittal near entrance to Tahrir square has grown. Chanting against military. pic.twitter.com/GCb9qltWf1 — Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) November 29, 2014

Large crowd now outside Tahrir. A couple thousand maybe. Ambulances nearby on standby. pic.twitter.com/C4uvH490ay — Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) November 29, 2014

Heavy police presence at Tahrir entrance. Armored trucks, officers in black balaclavas pic.twitter.com/C4mKregMet — Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) November 29, 2014

Part of crowd singing anti-police ultras songs under Oct. 6 bridge #Egypt pic.twitter.com/tQ3HIF4fsX — Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) November 29, 2014

Police fire water for a few seconds then begin lobbing tear gas canisters. Crowd flees in a panic. — Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) November 29, 2014

Reuters video:

And Reuters adds: