Riot police used tear gas and a water cannon against peaceful protesters including women, children and elderly people on Friday night as some 100,000 people joined a protest in Bucharest against the current government led by the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Gendarmes showed up with water cannons and mounted police and, while appearing not to have used them by late in the evening, it resorted to an unprecedented level of force against the people, while a limited number of protesters threw various objects at them.