PARIS: Tens of thousands of people marched in Paris and nationwide to protest police violence, and at least six protesters were arrested.
The protest happened just three months after a police officer shot and killed a young man in broad daylight outside of Paris while conducting a traffic stop, setting off a week of riots.
Protesters holding banners with portraits of victims of police violence were heard shouting slogans , ” We don’t Forget, We don’t Forgive”.
The government denounced “unacceptable violence” on the margins of the march, as officers were trapped in their police vehicle when it was attacked. Three officers were slightly injured.
The protest ignited after the IGPN, the inspectorate in charge of looking into police wrongdoing, had published its annual report on the use of force by policemen when the march took place. The study revealed that in 2022, 38 individuals died as a consequence of police action, including 22 people who were shot dead.
Local sources state that a group of protesters in black and wearing hoods split off from the main march in Paris, which was attended by several thousand people. They flung things at a police car that was backed up in traffic and broke the windows of a bank branch.
According to Paris police, a crowbar was used to strike the police car, and it was only until the anti-riot police unit intervened that the vehicle was able to be freed.
