Police violence: thousands of people back on the streets in Paris

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Thousands of people demonstrated this Saturday June 13 in France against racism and police violence, against a backdrop of anger among the police and on the eve of an address by President Emmanuel Macron. 

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According to the police headquarters, 15,000 people demonstrated on Place de la République in Paris on Saturday. The rally was organized on the initiative of the Adama Traoré committee , a young black man who died in July 2016 after his arrest by gendarmes in the Paris region. After three hours of static assembly, the demonstrators being blocked at their starting point, tensions erupted. Police fired tear gas in response to a few projectiles.

At the very beginning of the rally, Assa Traoré, the young man's sister and committee figure, spoke, inviting the crowd to "  denounce the denial of justice  ", "  social, racial, police violence », Demanding again the indictment of the gendarmes implicated in the arrest of his brother. "  When the French people come down, it is because we are all calling for the same thing, fair justice for everyone  ," she added. In the crowd, many young people wear a black t-shirt flocked with the request worn for four years by the Traoré family: "  Justice  ". Signs proclaim: "  Until we have justice, you will not have peace  ", "  We must be the last generation to demonstrate for this  ".

Police blocked a march

The demonstrators had planned to march to the Place de l'Opéra, but the parade, not authorized by the prefecture, did not take place, the police having prevented them from leaving the Place de la République. The police, who blocked most of the streets overlooking the Place de la République, where several thousand people had gathered, charged, causing part of the crowd to ebb. 

On the sidelines of the parade, 12 people were arrested after the PP after the deployment at the top of a building by activists of identity with a red and white banner bearing the inscription: "  Justice for the victims of anti-white racism  " that local residents have tried to uproot.

Demonstration against racism: local residents tear down the banner of Identity Generation deployed on a roof pic.twitter.com/xTWnLrjDS8

Events throughout France

On June 2, the Adama committee had already mobilized 20,000 people before the Paris court, and stood out as the spearhead in the fight against police violence. His discourse has broadened, from the denunciation of police violence to that of "systemic racism", finding a powerful echo after the death of George Floyd , which sparked a worldwide wave of indignation.

Other parades took place across France this Saturday, like in Bordeaux, where around 500 people marched in a friendly atmosphere. In Lyon, where around 2,000 people had gathered, the end of the demonstration was stretched between a few dozen demonstrators and the police, who used a vehicle to launch water and tear gas . In Nantes, a thousand people paraded at the end of the afternoon, while in the east smaller processions marched to Metz (200), Nancy (550) and Besançon (550).

( With AFP)

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