Thousands of people protested in central Paris today, Saturday, in the latest demonstration against alleged racism and violence by the police.
He called for participation in the demonstration, Asa Traore, whose brother Adama, a young black man, died in disputed circumstances after the gendarmerie police arrested him in 2016 in a town in northern Paris.
Traore said as the crowd gathered: "We gather today to condemn police violence. We gather today to condemn social violence. We gather today to condemn racist violence."
Right-wing extremists in a counter-demonstration raised a huge banner denouncing what they called "anti-white racism" from the roof of a house, but it was soon torn to pieces, by residents who emerged from a balcony on the floor apparently following the roof down.
An estimated 20,000 people defied the police ban. To participate in a previous protest called by Traore last week.
Thanks to this mobilization, Asa Traore declared, "The population now understands that there is racism in France, in the French police, and in the French gendarmerie."
