Paris police fire tear gas to control protesters
PARIS (Reuters) – Riot police fired tear gas to prevent thousands of anti-racism protesters marching through central Paris on Saturday, as a wave of anger continued to sweep the world following the death of African American George Floyd.
The protesters gathered in Place de la Republique where the crowd chanted, “No justice, no peace,” and some climbed the statue of Marianne, who personifies the French Republic. Police refused organizers permission to proceed to the Opera House.
The protest was generally peaceful but after three hours skirmishes broke out. Organizers urged protesters with children to leave as riot police charged pockets of protesters and projectiles were thrown at police lines.
The outrage generated by Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last month has resonated in France, in particular in deprived city suburbs where rights groups say that accusations of brutal treatment by French police of residents of often immigrant background remain largely unaddressed.
Assa Traore, sister of 24-year-old Adama Traore, who died near Paris in 2016 after police detained him, addressed Saturday’s protest.
“The death of George Floyd has a strong echo in the death in France of my little brother,” she said. “What’s happening in the United States is happening in France. Our brothers are dying.”
Traore’s family say he was asphyxiated when three officers held him down with the weight of their bodies. Authorities say the cause of his death was unclear.
One banner carried by the crowd in the Place de la Republique read: “I hope I don’t get killed for being black today.” Another carried a message for the government: “If you sow injustice, you reap a revolt.”
Earlier this week, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner acknowledged there were “proven suspicions of racism” within French law enforcement agencies.
His remarks drew condemnation from police unions, which said officers were being scapegoated for deep-rooted social ills. Police have held their own protests in cities across France this week.