Several Thousand Rally in Paris Anti-Racism Protest

Several thousand people today denounced police violence in an anti-racism protest in central Paris, as a wave of rage continued to sweep the world after the death of George Floyd, an African American.

The protesters chanted "No justice, no peace" and some of them climbed up the statue of Marianne, who embodies the French Republic, on the Place de la Republique. In a brief incident, riot police, present in large numbers, fired tear gas.

The outrage triggered by Floyd 's death in Minneapolis last month has resonated in France, particularly in the deprived suburbs of the city, where rights groups say that charges of brutal treatment by the 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 the 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 that he was asphyxiated when three officers held him down with the weight of their bodies. Authorities say that the cause of his death is 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."

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner acknowledged earlier this week that there were "documented allegations of racism" in French law enforcement agencies.

His comments drew the condemnation of the police unions, which said that the officers were being punished for deep-rooted social ills. This week, the police held their own protests in cities across France.

Ahead of the protest, in the ethnically diverse Paris suburb of Belleville, one man of Algerian descent said he had been the victim of police violence but he doubted institutional racism ran through the force.

"I've been insulted, hit even. But the police aren't all the same," he told Reuters TV, identifying himself as Karim. "Unfortunately, this minority is hurting the police."

Far-right activists unfurled a banner with the words "anti-white racism" from the rooftop of a building overlooking the protest. Residents emerged onto their balconies and ripped it up using with knives and scissors, to cheers from below.

Protests took place in other countries on Saturday, including in several Australian cities, Taipei, Zurich, and London.

Source: Reuters