Protesters return to the streets of France to denounce “police violence”

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to denounce police violence and the security policy plans of French President Emmanuel Macron that protesters say will undermine civil liberties.

French police fired tear gas in response to the protesters’ fireworks. Young men covering their heads smashed a shop window. Violent clashes broke out between protesters and the police in a similar protest last week.

Macron’s ruling party had recently said it would rewrite part of a security bill that would limit the rights to publish photos of police officers, after it sparked backlash from the public and the political left.

Protesters marched around the French capital under the strict surveillance of riot police, waving banners reading “France, the land of police rights” and “Withdraw security law.”

“We are moving towards an increasingly severe restriction of freedoms. There is no justification,” said Karen Chabeau, based in Paris. Another protester, Javier Molona, ​​said: “France tends to restrict freedoms while seeing their importance to others.”

The beating of music producer Michael Zekler, an African American man, by several police officers in late November fueled public anger. This incident became known after video clips of it were distributed on the Internet.

Critics had said the original bill would make it harder for police to be held to account in a country where some human rights groups say there is systematic racism within government agencies, especially security ones.

Many opponents of the bill say it will remain unfair even after it is rewritten.