Yesterday at one of the local protests, one protestor was injured after a scuffle with the cops. One of the local news stations was covering the protest, and zoomed in on a woman sitting down, her face entirely covered with blood- it looked like a very serious injury. The reporter asked the woman if she was OK, what was on her face- the woman giggled and said "stage blood". Apparently some protestors here were covering themselves with stage blood to show empathy with Iraqi victims. However, had the reporter not asked the question, I would have assumed that this woman and others with her were seriously beat up by the police.
I do not understand the point of this particular gesture. Is it so the cameras would broadcast gory images, and some people would attribute it police brutality? Why do this?