With the faint sting of tear gas adding to Jakarta's already thick air, a densely packed crowd of young Indonesians is steadily multiplying.
They're carrying the tools of civilian resistance — flags, fireworks, bottles and of course, their phones.
Many have toothpaste smeared under their eyes, in a desperate bid to counter the effects of tear gas.
Indonesia's Marines and Air Force personnel, who are well respected in the country, are keeping the crowd from their target: the Jakarta headquarters of Indonesia's tactical police squad, BRIMOB.
In front of the building are officers from the paramilitary unit, standing armed with riot shields.
The crowd swells, eagerly chanting for the defence forces to let them through.
Moments later, they get their wish.
Thousands of students and young workers surge forward, shooting fireworks and throwing bottles and Molotov cocktails at police.
As expected, they're met with tear gas, forcing them to race back and try again to reach the police line.
These are the kinds of scenes that have played out for days in Jakarta's streets, with young people and many other Indonesians from all walks of life, demonstrating their furious anger at the government and police.
How a protest over allowances turned into a riot
Demonstrations began on Monday last week, with people taking to the streets to voice their anger over a housing allowance and other perks paid to members of parliament that many in the country felt were lavish at a time of budget cuts.
These protests, mostly involving students, young Indonesians and labour groups, became a forum to raise their anger at the government's management of the economy and Indonesia's extreme income inequality.
Millions of young people across the country are unemployed and millions of Indonesians remain in poverty.
President Prabowo Subianto has slashed the government budget to fund his ambitious spending promises, including the free school lunch program for primary school students.
The austerity measures are impacting many and fuelling considerable anger.
While protests in Indonesia are known for occasional clashes between police and protesters, the actions of police on Thursday night caused everything to change.
Members from Indonesia's police paramilitary, BRIMOB, drove at protesters in an armoured vehicle, causing mass panic.
A video that has gone viral online shows hundreds of protesters fleeing as the vehicle hit and killed ride-share motorcycle driver Affan Kurniawan.
His death united various groups sharing long-standing anger at Indonesia's police, and escalated protests into furious unrest that spread across the whole country.
In the last few days, provincial government buildings have been torched, killing at least three people in South Sulawesi.
The houses of MPs who had made inflammatory comments were raided and looted, with footage spreading quickly over social media.
Civil society groups say at least 10 people have been killed, including one teenager.
Desperately trying to calm things down, President Subianto cancelled a trip to China and tried to reassure the public an investigation into the police responsible for Mr Kurniawan's death would be handled quickly.
He also said controversial entitlements and perks would be wound back.
There's now an enormous police and military presence in Jakarta, scaring off many protesters in recent days.
Who is involved?
At protests and demonstrations, there have been mixes of different groups in Indonesia, including university students, high-schoolers, ride-share and delivery drivers, and out-of-work, struggling young people.
Sandi Indriawan, a young worker from the outskirts of Jakarta, told the ABC he had travelled to the protest at BRIMOB's Jakarta HQ to raise his frustrations about the government.
"We just want the parliament to create laws that make life easier for us," he said.
"I feel hopeless for this country. We are all on the street right now to voice our concerns to the people at the top."
Angger Sifa, 29, said he was furious at Indonesia's inequality, along with choices the government was making.
"This month, the price of rice increased, our tax increased, to increase the income of parliament members," he said.
"We're here protesting from one morning til the next morning, because we're angry."
University students, who have held an important role in protests in Indonesia's history, have been one of the most vocal groups calling for change.
Sri Meisista, Chair of the Islamic Women Student Association, said she felt Indonesia's democracy was unstable.
"Education sectors, like the incentive for the teachers, was hit bad by the government's efficiency policy, while their allowances were being raised," she said.
"It's hurt us as a student seeing the MPs dancing happily above us, while we suffer."
"We saw their high lifestyles revealed, and that's materialised in public anger all over Indonesia."
Information about protests was widely shared on social media platforms like TikTok, with clashes beamed to phone screens across the country and globally, partially becoming a tool for information sharing and organisation.
But late on Saturday, TikTok suspended its live-streaming feature, cutting off a crucial online source for many young people to keep up with the protests or share what was unfolding.
Earlier last week, Reuters reported that Indonesia's government had summoned representatives from TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, and told them to boost content moderation because of misinformation.
That move has been heavily criticised, with many fearful that it was suppressing free speech.
There have also been allegations that some protesters were paid to take part, with rival political factions potentially factoring into last week's protests.
"There is an existing political conflict among political elites, even between President Prabowo and former President Joko Widodo," Amnesty International Indonesia Director Usman Hamid said.
"But I don't believe everything started from that conflict, I think it comes from government ignorance, unfair policies on tax, spending cuts, on allowances for parliament that aren't sensitive," he said.
President warns of 'treason'
Protests on the streets of Jakarta quietened on Monday following Prabowo's speech, after he warned protesters and told police and Indonesia's military to take firm action.
There has been a large surge in the visibility of both military and police personnel on the streets of the capital.
The former military general walked a fine line when talking about protesters on Sunday.
On one hand, he said the "genuine aspirations" of the public needed to be respected.
On the other, he called the actions of some "crossing into treason and terrorism."
He's also promoted police officers who have been injured in the riots.
"It's dangerous for the head of the government to label peaceful protesters as anarchists, terrorists and treasonous," Mr Hamid said.
"I think these labels will make things worse.
"They're intended to justify police brutality and military violence across Indonesia.
"I don't think in the next couple of weeks there will be a resolution, or a restoration of order in Indonesia, especially in urban areas where the protests are taking place."
