French activists protest racism and police brutality while officers are on guard for key events

PARIS — Households, neighborhood teams and far-left activists marched in cities round France on Saturday to decry racism and police brutality, placing authorities on edge at a time when French police are deployed en masse for a string of high-security occasions.

Lingering anger over the killing by police of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk in June was an impetus for Saturday’s protests, however they included teams with disparate calls for for immigrants’ rights, reasonably priced housing and financial justice. Greater than 100 marches had been deliberate round France, and Inside Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered particular police vigilance.

Tensions briefly flared on the largely peaceable, boisterous protest in Paris. Members of the gang smashed home windows of a financial institution alongside the march route, and police evacuated the rattled staff. At one other spot, protesters surrounded a police automotive and an officer darted out, waving his gun.

Some 30,000 police and gendarmes had been working Saturday to maintain order for a go to by Pope Francis to Marseille and at three Rugby World Cup matches, in response to the inside minister’s workplace. The safety presence was additionally bolstered for the three-day go to of Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla, which wrapped up Friday night.

The protesters’ calls for embody harder guidelines limiting the usage of firearms by police; an unbiased physique 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 handle issues uncovered by the killing of Merzouk, a French-born youth of north African descent, within the Paris suburb of Nanterre. He was stopped by two officers who subsequently alleged that he’d been driving dangerously, and died from a shot by means of his left arm and chest. The officer who fired the shot was given a preliminary cost of voluntary murder.

Merzouk’s dying unleashed violent protests in Nanterre that unfold and morphed into nationwide riots. Mass police deployment quelled the mayhem, however tensions linger.

“The police kill in France. That’s not new. However we’ve got the impression that the center lessons and others exterior the low-income neighborhoods are gaining consciousness of repression by the state,’’ stated Belkacem Amirat, who got here from the Paris suburb of Antony to march within the capital.

Legislation scholar Justine Larnac stated “the system of police must be essentially reformed,” notably to curb police violence throughout arrests and site visitors stops and handle racial profiling.

The French authorities denies systemic racism or brutality by police. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez defended officers, saying Saturday on broadcaster France-Information that they generally want to make use of “legit, authorized and proportional violence” to cease ‘’harmful conduct, vandalism and looting.’’

For Saturday’s march in Paris, 1,000 officers had been deployed to maintain order.

In Marseille, about 5,000 cops and 1,000 personal safety officers had been in place for the pope’s go to, in addition to dozens of surveillance cameras alongside Francis’ route. President Emmanuel Macron, after assembly with the pope Saturday, shook fingers with onlookers and police guarding the venue.

Safety measures have additionally been heightened within the 9 cities internet hosting the Rugby World Cup, working from Sept. 8-Oct. 28.

Organizers of Saturday’s protests embody the far-left social gathering France Unbowed and hard-left union CGT, amongst Macron’s loudest critics. Local weather activists, a farmers’ collective and neighborhood teams that work to fight racism and police abuse additionally took half.