Youths with flags and iron poles charged up the steps of Yugoslavia's parliament. "Let's go forward, let's attack," they cried. "Save Serbia and kill yourself, Slobodan."
They pushed forward. Police fired tear gas but could not hold. Belgrade was in revolt.
A million people came to the capital yesterday and so did the police - with armoured vehicles, batons and guns. By 6 p.m., many police were kissing protesters. Youngsters sported blue helmets and riot shields. But as night closed in, the capital was out of control.
First, protesters moved against the federal parliament. There was supposed to be an opposition rally there, addressed by political leaders, but chaos broke out before the 3 p.m. start.
"More than a hundred people are trying to get in," said Aleksandar, aged 18. "Police are in there," said another man, Zoran. "We came to hear the opposition speak, but they couldn't because of the tear gas."
As youngsters repeatedly charged the parliament building, special police units fought them back and fired tear gas.
But the swarming youths moved forward again and again. Finally, many police officers retreated by a back door and others left on the front steps. Some even embraced protesters.
By 4 p.m. the parliament building was in the hands of the crowd. Heady with victory, the teenagers who had entered smashed windows, swarming over the stone ledges. Then from the balcony, to cheers from the crowd, they shovelled out ballot papers.
The papers swirled down like crazy confetti. The demonstrators moved on, heady with defiance and excitement. They were claiming the capital - and destroying the symbols and instruments of the Milosevic regime.
Police continued to fire tear gas in front of the parliament for more than two hours. But the youngsters, wearing sunglasses and with home-made turbans tied around their heads and mouths, kept pushing to get in. "Slobo down," cried one 15-year-old.
Many protesters went in to claim their booty. They emerged clutching typewriters, office equipment, documents, even lampshades and chairs.
"There's nothing inside there any more. Everything is broken. The chairs, pictures, they have all gone," said Marija, aged 22, a student from Batacina, south of Belgrade. "But that's OK. But we can build it again. Gotov Je (he is finished)," she said.
At about 4.30 p.m. the activists moved to claim Milosevic's main propaganda machine - Radio Television Serbia.
A bar worker in a cafe nearby said youngsters began attacking from two sides, from the park behind and from the road. They threw Molotov cocktails and police responded with tear gas.
Mr Branko Pavlovic, a vice-president of an opposition party, the Social Democratic Union, said: "I was there. It was pretty nasty. I was in the street that links the parliament with television, Takovska Street. The protesters made several assaults on the television.
"Police responded with tear gas. Then rubber bullets, then real bullets. Then a bulldozer driven by the demonstrators started to smash the building. The demonstrators then set alight a corner of the building and then they stormed in."
Another participant, Mr Vladko Sekulovic, said: "For a moment it seemed as if police would push people back. Five or six people with flags, including me, entered the building. There were a lot of shots with real and rubber bullets.
"The crucial thing was the bulldozer that broke the doors. After that, police stepped back and the building was set on fire. Lower down the street a huge group of people began approaching the building - and then the police withdrew.
"I saw three demonstrators who appeared to be dead."
On a street nearby, Ilija Garasanina, police anti-terrorist units arrived. But they never clashed with demonstrators.
"The commander came out and asked what was happening. People began running. There was a lot of tear gas", said Veljko Popovic (28). He fled and when he returned, the demonstrators and police were embracing each other.