The first protest was on 16 January in the South. On 19 January in Tirana demonstrators protested the Sudja creditors. On 24 January the "de facto" rebellion began. Thousands of people in Lushnja marched on city hall in protest against the government's support of the schemes. The protest quickly descended into violence. Police forces were routed and the city hall and adjoining cinema were burned. One day later, on 25 January, Democratic Party chair Tritan Shehu was sent to Lushnje to resolve the situation. On his arrival he was held hostage for several hours at City Stadium and assaulted by the protesters. Albanian Special Forces units intervened to extract Shehu. By the morning every government institution in the city was looted and destroyed, except for the Interior Ministry building, which was protected by the Director of Communications, seven of his engineers and a guard who refused to abandon his post.