Protests Against Police Violence in Paris Canceled

The Paris police announced a ban on the planned protest against police violence on Saturday, July 8, one week after a wave of protests erupted following the killing of a teenager in the suburbs of the French capital, which plunged the country into chaos. According to Reuters, the Paris police stated on their website that the demonstration planned in the Place de la République was prohibited 'due to risks to public order' and cited a 'background of tension' as the reason. The call for the Saturday protest was made by the family of Adama Traoré, a Black French man who died in police custody under circumstances similar to the killing of George Floyd in the United States. Adama Traoré was a 24-year-old Black man who died on July 19, 2016, while in the custody of the French gendarmerie. Protests against police violence and racial discrimination were initially planned as a march in 'Bondy-sur-Oise,' another suburb of Paris where Traoré died in 2016, but were banned by local authorities citing 'increased risk to public order and security.' This ban was confirmed by a court on Friday. Nael, a 17-year-old with Algerian and Moroccan parents, was shot by police during a traffic stop in the suburbs of Paris. The reposting of the deadly shooting of Nael on social media has reignited anger among low-income and non-white groups against what they describe as 'police violence and racism' in the country. French officials and politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron, have denied the existence of institutional racism within the country's law enforcement agencies. Iranian media outlets are distorting news from France to justify the suppression of protests in Iran. Hossein Lajevardi stated: 'In the protests in France, unlike Iran, hundreds of police are injured every night.' Protests continue in France following the killing of a teenager; report by Ramesh Rasekh. Unrest in France and an attack on the home of the Mayor of Paris; 719 protesters have been arrested.