Anyone who looks down upon the protestors who died in Tinamen square with ridicule and derision do not have a clue what freedom is or what democracy is worth. Those young people may not have realised how dangerous thier actions were, but certainly they knew that they were taking a big risk.
Men and women have been dying for centuries for those same principles, at least at Tinamen the students didn't make a bunch of excuses about how hopeless they were, they stood up to be counted. Our American forefathers could have gave up when they realized they were up against a power that had a huge army, the most powerful navy in the world, and a nearly limitless budget, but they didn't, they stood up and resisted as best they could, and we honor thier sacrifice to this day. We should honor those who dies thier the same way. Thier lives were as valuable as anybody elses, thier goal was as noble, and thier attempts were as earnest any any other true freedom fighter anywhere else.
That is one of the problems of the AK type rifle, they have been used so often to squelch freedom and democracy, that its very image has become a symbol of oppresion. The AK is the gun barrel that communism has sprung from for nearly sixty years. As much as I love the rifles thier is a serious image issue with them, and as long as oppresive dictators espousing communist ideals arm thier stormtroopers with them, that will continue.
ETA: Those are great pictures. Isn't interesting to see how the Chinese government chooses to remember the events that took place there? I imagine that the statue has been there since long before the protest, and that is fine. It is disgusting that the government has made it a crime to even mention the events that took place there so recently.