REPORTAGE
The Paris parade against racism and police violence, at the call of the Human Rights League and the Adama Traoré collective, finally turned into a static rally. Several thousand people are still stranded on Place de la République, in the early evening, Saturday, the police preventing any departure for the Opera, the planned destination of the procession. According to the authorities, 15,000 people participated in this mobilization in the capital.
>> Watch Wendy Bouchard's Big Journal in replay and podcast here
"We will not go home like this"
According to members of the Adama Traoré collective, the prefect Didier Lallement nevertheless finally authorized this demonstration at midday - the Paris police headquarters had reminded that gatherings of more than ten people were prohibited due to the health crisis , Friday. On the square, Assa Traoré, sister of the 24-year-old man who died in July 2016 after his arrest by the police, denounced this prevented parade.
"You have answered the call, the people's call," she addressed the demonstrators present in the early afternoon, microphone in hand and back turned to the gendarmes. "Today the police are blocking you but the power, it is we who have it. We went out on the street, you answered present, for the truth and for the dignity of the human being, for justice for Adama, for justice for all the victims. We won't be going home like this. "
"We want to change this society"
At the start of the rally, a huge banner displayed by activists of the extreme-right group Génération Identitaire on the roofs of the Republic sparked hoots and some exchanges of blows. At the end of the afternoon, some tensions erupted in the square, with tear gas being fired. But more was needed to discourage the demonstrators met by Europe 1, like Léa and Tanya, who came to denounce the police violence.
"We came to say stop, we want to change this society, we want it to evolve", they testify. "Today is 2020, and it is not normal that there are still people killed by the police because of their skin color. It is not only in the United States, it is in France, it's the same everywhere, and it has to stop. " Like them, most of those present described a movement that was not about to run out of steam.