Anti-lockdown riots break out in Paris amid anger at police ‘heavy-handed’ treatment of minorities’ after Macron extends social distancing to fight COVID-19 until May 11
- Tear gas and baton charges were used by police in northern suburb of Paris
- Squads of Republican Security Company officers were called in to tackle dissent
- Comes after 30-year-old motorcyclist was critically injured by police car
Riots have broken out in a Paris suburb amid anger over alleged heavy handedness towards ethnic minorities by French police during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Tear gas and baton charges were fired by police in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, northern Paris, in the early hours this morning as fireworks were let off in the street.
Armed police were seen rushing through the area as a group wearing black congregated in the area.
It comes after a 30-year-old was critically injured in the neighbourhood in a collision with an unmarked police car.
Riots have broken out in the Parisian suburb of Villeneuve-la-Garenne following allegations of heavy handedness against ethnic minorities by police forces. (Pictured: An officer asks a journalist to step back in the suburb early on Monday morning)
A firework explodes in the middle of the street in the French suburb early this morning
Videos of the trouble posted by the French journalist Taha Bouhafs, who is from an Algerian background, includes one of him being manhandled by police – leading to allegations of racism.
Mr Bouhaf’s earlier images show tear gas canisters being fired by the police, who were hit my numerous fireworks.
The early morning violence followed prosecutors opening an enquiry after a 30-year-old motorcyclist was critically injured following a collision with an unmarked police car in Villeneuve-la-Garenne.
Friends of the victim, who have not been named, claimed the incident on Saturday night was an example of police heavy-handedness against ethnic minority communities during the lockdown.
‘The very badly injured man comes from an Arab Muslim background,’ said a source close to the case.
‘He is critical in hospital, and people in the area have reacted very badly to what has happened.’
Police threw tear gas and baton charges as they moved to disperse protesters in the area
A police officer was seen carrying a large gun as they moved through the neighbourhood
A local police spokesman said: ‘Police and their reinforcements have been the target of rioters, who have thrown stones and fireworks.
‘The violence started in Villeneuve-la-Garenne and has spread to other towns and estates nearby.’
Last week prosecutors in Béziers, in the south of France, announced that officers were facing criminal charges after a father-of-three died while under arrest for breaching the Coronavirus lockdown.
Three officers were videoed dragging Mohamed Gabsi, 33, along the ground during a curfew.
They are suspected of ‘intentional violence by a public official leading to manslaughter’ and ‘non assistance of a person in danger’.
French journalist Taha Bouhafs, who is from an Algerian background, is arrested by police
Two officers hold the journalist’s arms behind his back as they carry out the arrest
The offences come with a potential combined prison sentence of 15 years plus, said local prosecutors.
The case is particularly sensitive because Mr Gabsi was a Muslim, and Béziers is run by a far-Right mayor who is supported by the National Rally party, which used to be called the National Front.
Mr Gabsi had suffered a heart attack by the time he arrived at a local police station, and witnesses saw two of the officers sitting on top of him in their patrol car.
Mr Gabsi’s suspicious death follows numerous complaints about police racism as forces across France enforce one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe.
A spokesman for France’s Human Rights League described the death of Mr Gabsi, who was from an Arab background, as a ‘scandal that shows how the poor are being killed’ by the lockdown.
France on Tuesday reported a total of 19,718 deaths from Coronavirus since the start of the health emergency.
The country has been in lockdown from March 17, and this will continue until at least May 11.