France: 20,000 BLM protesters defy social distancing to protest in Paris (VIDEO)

Some 20,000 mostly black protesters defied social distancing measures and took to the streets of Paris on Tuesday evening, responding to a call from the family support committee of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old black man who died in 2016 after being arrested.

Police were forced to deploy tear gas on several occasions to disperse violent crowds which hurled projectiles, smashed shop windows, and started fires. The demonstrations saw two police officers injured and 18 protesters arrested, Le Figaro reports.

 Despite the police prefecture announcing on Tuesday morning that the demonstration was not authorized due to coronavirus measures which prohibit public gatherings of more than ten people, the protests went ahead and began anyway at about 7:00pm on the court forecourt in northeast Paris.

french protesters chanting « get lost » to the french police in Paris we love to see it! pic.twitter.com/0I4ooNR2AE

— ♡ (@starjinki) June 2, 2020

Police also cited the fact that the demonstration “had not been the subject of any prior declaration” and that “the tone of the call to protest relayed by social networks raised fears that overflows would occur on a sensitive site.”

Almost immediately police intervened and demonstrators were dispersed in the surrounding streets and on the ring road. As can be seen in the video footage of the protest, barricades made out of urban furniture, electric scooters, motorcycles, and construction materials were set alight.

It's really kicking off in Paris now! pic.twitter.com/GPnWJFYlje

— Jerome Roos (@JeromeRoos) June 2, 2020

Anti-police, Black Lives Matter protesters in France have clearly drawn inspiration from their counter parts in America. Earlier this week, Adama sister claimed that, like George Floyd, her brother’s final words could have also been “I can’t breathe.”

French police, however, contend that Adama’s death was the result of preexisting health conditions.

In America, following several nights of riots and looting which appeared to be morphing into armed insurrection, President Donald Trump was forced to deploy the National Guard to restore order to cities across the country. On Monday night, the 82 Airborne Division was moved to the Washington D.C. area to counter anti-police protesters.

Paris says Black Lives Matterpic.twitter.com/YquMEv6sT5

— Yasmina Bennani (@YASMINAREBEL) June 2, 2020

In the past week, Black Lives Matter protests have popped up in several European cities. In Amsterdam, politicians were outraged after the city’s leftist mayor allowed several thousand people, all of whom were defying social distancing measures, to gather on Dam Square to protest “police brutality”, as Voice of Europe reported.

In the city of Ghent in Belgium, a group calling itself BLM Belgium also defied social distancing measures during an unlawful demonstration, Voice of Europe reported. Like in the Netherlands, Belgian authorities took no action to break up the demonstration.

Source:
Voice Of Europe