PARIS – Thousands took to the streets across France on Saturday to demand the government abandon a contentious new security law, in a controversy intensified by the beating and racial abuse of a black man by police officers that shocked the country.
The demonstrations against the security law – which would restrict the right of the press to broadcast images of police officers’ faces – took place nationwide with the central Place de la Republique in Paris filled to the seams despite the coronavirus pandemic.
President Emmanuel Macron said late Friday that the images of the beating of black music producer Michel Zecler in Paris last weekend “shame us.” The incident had magnified concerns about alleged systemic racism in the police force. (AFP)
