Protesters torched the offices of Egypt's ruling Islamist party, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, in Suez, Alexandria and other cities. Essam el-Erian, a leading figure of Morsi's FJP, condemned attacks on party property.[207] Media organizations noted that the events showed Egypt was a divided country.[2][3][4][5][208][209][210] Morsi defended amid the protests before his supporters his declaration stating that he was working to secure a strong and stable nation and leading Egypt on a path to "freedom and democracy".[64][65][208][211]