Source: http://rt.com/news/mariupol-base-shooting-ukraine-008/
They called on the troops to abandon the base, but the soldiers didn't listen, the demonstrators said. Instead, the troops opened fire at the protesters, injuring at least four people. One of them took a bullet in his chest and is in serious condition, according to protesters.
I know that generally you don't need definite articles when using the expression according to someone or something. But is it possible, in theory, to use one? Or would it sound just plainly wrong to your ear?
Answer
Omission of "the" in reference to "protesters" conveys an attribute of a class of people, whereas "the protesters" conveys a reference to the actual, specific people who participated in or witnessed this particular protest. It strikes me that the intent of the writer is to highlight a particular point of view of the incident, namely that of a protester, to contrast that with some other point of view, say, that of a guard or soldier. Either construct is grammatically correct.
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