‘Frightening’ scenes come out of France as protests continue against Macron

Police in France


Support us and go ad-free

France’s neoliberal government is currently facing a mass public uprising. Anger against the country’s elites and out-of-touch politicians has led people to take to the streets in pursuit of change. Although the vast majority of France supports the protesters, the police have all too often responded with violence. And now, some very worrying images have been coming out of the country.

Students forced to kneel

Demonstrating students were protesting against government changes to the education system when police decided to crack down. As the BBC reported, the authorities forced the students to “kneel in dirt while facing brick walls”.

One Paris councillor called the scenes “frightening”, “humiliating”, and “unacceptable”.

And the images are indeed very disturbing:

Award-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, meanwhile, tweeted:

The police claimed they suspected those they arrested of participating in an “armed gathering”.

It’s about dignity

There are more protests across France on 8 December, even though the government has responded to protests by cancelling a controversial tax rise which sparked unrest in the first place. Some of the additional demands of protesters are greater taxation of wealthy citizens, a higher minimum wage, and more taxes for multinational corporations. As Greenwald pointed out:

And as Christina, a teacher from Paris, told the Guardian:

[The protesters] are people like me, trying to get by on small salaries while the cost of living keeps rising. It’s not normal that working people cannot live well… [President] Macron needs to wake up to this – he’s giving tax breaks to the rich while the ordinary Joe in the street like me can barely afford the basic necessities in life. Something has to give.

With worrying scenes of police brutality and authorities forcing students to kneel, it looks likely that protests will continue. The ruling elites are clearly scared – and rightly so. Because ordinary people in France are taking matters into their own hands. And no amount of state violence will be able to shut them up.

Featured image via screenshot

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us

Related articles