French protesters clash with police
Violent clashes erupted in Paris as tens of thousands took to the streets against a proposed security law. Tensions were already high after the circulation last week of a video showing police officers beating and racially abusing a black man.
Police repeatedly fired tear gas to disperse rowdy protesters at the weekend, who set fire to France’s central bank and threw paving stones.
Some 46,000 people marched in Paris and 133,000 in total nationwide, the interior ministry said. Protest organizers estimated 500,000 joined nationwide, including 200,000 in the capital.
President Emmanuel Macron said late Friday, the images of the beating of black music producer Michel Zecler by police officers in Paris last weekend “Shame us”. The incident magnified concerns about alleged systemic racism in the police force.
“Police everywhere, justice nowhere” and “police state” and “smile while you are beaten” were among the slogans brandished as protesters marched from Place de la Republique to the nearby Place de la Bastille.