Protesters in France were met with tear gas and police on Saturday as a wave of protests swept the world following the death of African American George Floyd. Protesters stood beneath the statue of Marianne, shouting “No justice, no peace”. The protests in France have been relatively peaceful. Rights groups say that the way that the police treat residents of immigrant background goes overlooked. Adam Traore died in 2016 in France after the police detained him.
15,000 people were gathered in the Place de la République on Saturday. Le Parisien newspaper says that 26 people were questioned by police. Another protest was held in Lyon.
The interior Minister Christopher Castaner recognized that there were “proven suspicions of racism” in French law enforcement agencies. One man of Algerian descent agreed that while he has been the victim of police violence, not all police were the same. But, that “unfortunately, this minority is hurting the police”. The common notion is that what has been happening in the United States has been echoed in France and seems to remind France of things that have occurred in their country.
“What’s happening in the United States is happening in France. Our brothers are dying.”
Protests also took place in other countries such as Australian cities, Taipei, Zurich, and London. It may have started initially in the United States, but, it has definitely spread globally. In those countries that it’s spread, it seems that the protesters are supportive of the movement and trying to promote an anti-racist agenda in their country .
Per BBC reporting, France’s police watchdog claims to have received 1,5000 complaints against officers last year— half of them for violence complaints. Police are accused of seriously wounding a 14-year-old detained for stealing a scooter. On Monday, Interior Minister Christopher Castaner banned the choke-hold method for restraining some. Trump has said that chokeholds should generally be banned. It’s clear that France has a history of issues with police, similarly to the United States and internal matters as well.
In the United States, meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York stated that he would stop supporting items that failed to reform police. He wants to reinvent and modernize police to battle racism. Police disciplinary records would now become public and chokeholds would become a felony for up to 15 years. He is stated as having said that it should be done in every police agency in the country.
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