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French Protesters, Police Clash Over New Security Legislation

Agence France-Presse

   PARIS - Violent clashes erupted Saturday in Paris as tens of thousands
   took to the streets to protest new security legislation, with tensions
   intensified by the police beating and racial abuse of a Black man that
   shocked France.

   Several fires were started in Paris, sending acrid smoke into the air,
   as protesters vented their anger against the security law that would
   restrict the publication of police officers' faces.

   About 46,000 people marched in Paris and 133,000 in total nationwide in
   about 70 cities, including in Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier and Nantes,
   the Interior Ministry said. Protest organizers said about 500,000
   joined nationwide, including 200,000 in the capital.

   President Emmanuel Macron said late Friday that the images of the
   beating of Black music producer Michel Zecler by police officers in
   Paris last weekend "shame us." The incident magnified concerns about
   alleged systemic racism in the police force.

   "Police everywhere, justice nowhere," "police state" and "smile while
   you are beaten" were among the slogans brandished as protesters marched
   from Place de la Republique to the nearby Place de la Bastille.

   "We have felt for a long time to have been the victim of
   institutionalized racism from the police," said Mohamed Magassa 35, who
   works in a reception center for minors. "But now we feel that this week
   all of France has woken up."

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