Protests against police violence in France

In France, several thousand people took to the streets against police violence on Saturday. There were around 100 events across the country. At the rally in Paris, a police car was attacked with iron bars, French news channel BFTMV reported, citing police. Authorities were reportedly injured. The organizations called for the protests three months after the death of a young man during a police inspection.

Organizers complain about systemic racism, police violence and growing social inequality, which mainly affects suburban residents. Following the death of 17-year-old Nahel in a police shooting at the end of June, there were days of serious unrest in the French suburbs. Video footage showed that the teenager did not try to avoid the officers during the police check, as they had initially claimed.

Since then, President Emmanuel Macron’s government has not presented a concept to improve the situation in socially disadvantaged suburbs, nor has police behavior been critically analyzed.

According to a report by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), a total of 38 people died and 66 were injured in police operations in 2022 (compared to 37 dead and 79 injured in 2021).