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| ‘Everyone hates the police!’ Teargas used as anti-Le Pen protest in France descends into violence | ‘Everyone hates the police!’ Teargas used as anti-Le Pen protest in France descends into violence |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Riot police were forced to use tear gas to contain a protest staged by anti-fascist and far-left union protesters in Nantes in western France. The demonstration was initially organized against a speech by the National Front leader Marine Le Pen scheduled for Sunday. | Riot police were forced to use tear gas to contain a protest staged by anti-fascist and far-left union protesters in Nantes in western France. The demonstration was initially organized against a speech by the National Front leader Marine Le Pen scheduled for Sunday. |
| According to RT’s Jonathan Moadab, the demonstrators, many of whom wore hoods and masks, threw smoke bombs and even a Molotov cocktail at officers, who had summoned a water cannon to the central square. At least one officer has been taken to hospital after receiving a burn to his leg. | |
| French media reported earlier that radical activists were traveling to Nantes from across the country and public transport into the city through the main streets had been suspended, while owners put protective paneling over shop windows. | |
| The demonstration, comprising what authorities estimated as more than 2,200 people, began under the supervision of a sizable police contingent, with several units bussed in as reinforcements from neighboring regions. | |
| During the initial, peaceful part of the rally, activists carried signs bearing slogans saying “No to Le Pen” and “No fascists in our neighborhood,” though there were also cries of “Justice for Theo,” a popular slogan during the recent spate of riots in Paris that followed the alleged brutal treatment of a black suspect named Theo. Many of the activists also carried Communist symbols and trade union flags. | |
| It appears that the clashes began after several participants launched several flares, covering the procession in thick smoke. Many in the crowd began chanting “Everybody hates the police!” At that point, a smaller group of mostly young male activists, covered head-to-toe in black track suits and armed with sticks and truncheons, separated from the bulk of the protesters and began engaging the riot police. | |
| Several hurled flares directly into the closed shields of the cordon, while others pelted officers with stones. There were also several running battles, with protesters coming closer and directly clashing with uniformed officers, before retreating to a safe distance. |