French police fire tear gas at anti-racism demo in Lille

Protesters jump over the gates of the Martin Luther King park, northwest of Paris, to escape tear gas as they demonstrate near Paris courthouse against police violence on June 2, 2020. – Some 20,000 people defied a ban in Paris on Tuesday to protest the 2016 death of a young black man named Adama Traore in French police custody, some clashing with police and using slogans like those used in the demonstrations raging in the US. In the US several cities have deployed the guard in the face of angry protests against police brutality following the killing of the unarmed black man George Floyd by police during an arrest in Minneapolis last week. (Photo by Michel RUBINEL / AFP)

LILE, France (AFP) — French police fired tear gas to disperse around 2,000 demonstrators protesting against racism and police brutality in the northern city of Lille on Thursday.

“No justice, no peace,” the crowd chanted, echoing the protests which have taken place across the United States following the death of unarmed African American George Floyd in the hands of police.

The marchers also brandished placards, some in English, bearing slogans now familiar in the US protests: “Black lives matter”, “I can’t breathe,” and “Stop police violence”.

The mainly young crowd in Lille marched to the city center, also calling for “justice for Adama”.

Adama Traore was a young black man killed in French police custody in 2016.

On Thursday police in Lille fired tear gas to disperse the protesters but flashpoint incidents continued as night fell.

“Today people feel stigmatized, ostracised by the Republic and these people… demand above all to be integrated, recognized, treated like everyone else,” one of the marchers, 32-year-old Sofian Betrancourt, told AFP.

“The question of police violence has been on the table for many years, but at the same time this inequality is displayed on a global basis,” he added.

© Agence France-Presse

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