PARIS — Families, group teams and far-left activists marched in towns round France on Saturday to decry racism and police brutality, placing government on edge at a time when French police are deployed en masse for a string of high-security events.
Lingering anger over the killing by way of police of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk in June used to be an impetus for Saturday’s protests, however they incorporated teams with disparate calls for for immigrants’ rights, inexpensive housing and financial justice. More than 100 marches have been deliberate round France, and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered particular police vigilance.
Tensions in brief flared on the in large part non violent, boisterous protest in Paris. Members of the gang smashed home windows of a financial institution alongside the march path, and police evacuated the rattled workers. At every other spot, protesters surrounded a police automotive and an officer darted out, waving his gun.
Some 30,000 police and gendarmes have been running Saturday to stay order for a talk over with by way of Pope Francis to Marseille and at 3 Rugby World Cup fits, in step with the internal minister’s place of business. The safety presence used to be additionally bolstered for the three-day talk over with of Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla, which wrapped up Friday night.
The protesters’ calls for come with harder laws restricting using firearms by way of police; an unbiased frame to exchange the interior company tasked with investigating police abuses; and large state funding in low-income neighborhoods.
Marchers lamented what they really feel has been a failure to deal with issues uncovered by way of the killing of Merzouk, a French-born adolescence of north African descent, within the Paris suburb of Nanterre. He used to be stopped by way of two officers who therefore alleged that he’d been riding dangerously, and died from a shot via his left arm and chest. The officer who fired the shot used to be given a initial price of voluntary murder.
Merzouk’s loss of life unleashed violent protests in Nanterre that unfold and morphed into national riots. Mass police deployment quelled the mayhem, however tensions linger.
“The police kill in France. That is not new. But we have the impression that the middle classes and others outside the low-income neighborhoods are gaining awareness of repression by the state,’’ said Belkacem Amirat, who came from the Paris suburb of Antony to march in the capital.
Law student Justine Larnac said “the system of police needs to be fundamentally reformed,” significantly to curb police violence all the way through arrests and site visitors stops and deal with racial profiling.
The French government denies systemic racism or brutality by police. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez defended officers, saying Saturday on broadcaster France-Info that they sometimes need to use “legitimate, legal and proportional violence” to stop ‘’dangerous behavior, vandalism and looting.’’
For Saturday’s march in Paris, 1,000 officers were deployed to keep order.
In Marseille, about 5,000 police officers and 1,000 private security officers were in place for the pope’s visit, as well as dozens of surveillance cameras along Francis’ route. President Emmanuel Macron, after meeting with the pope Saturday, shook hands with onlookers and police guarding the venue.
Security measures have also been heightened in the nine cities hosting the Rugby World Cup, running from Sept. 8-Oct. 28.
Organizers of Saturday’s protests include the far-left party France Unbowed and hard-left union CGT, among Macron’s loudest critics. Climate activists, a farmers’ collective and community groups that work to combat racism and police abuse also took part.
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Associated Press reporters Sylvie Corbet in Marseille, France, and Michel Euler in Paris contributed to this record.
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