- Title: "Respect our police" - wives of French officers berate government
- Date: 27th June 2020
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 27, 2020) (REUTERS) WIVES OF FRENCH POLICE OFFICERS AND OTHER SUPPORTERS OF POLICE, SINGING NATIONAL ANTHEM "LA MARSEILLAISE" ACTIVIST AND FORMER MUNICIPAL COUNCILLOR FROM SOCIALIST PARTY, ZOHRA BITAN, ON STAGE WIVES SINGING ANTHEM, AND SUPPORTER WAVING FLAG / PROTESTERS APPLAUDING
- Embargoed: 11th July 2020 15:53
- Keywords: French police anti-police rhetoric police violence racism support for police
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001CK59JK7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Several dozen women rallied in support of French police in central Paris on Saturday (June 27), as discontent within the country's law enforcement agencies swells over what they feel is the government's unfair treatment of officers over racism.
Police have been holding protests everyday in towns and cities across France against the government's attempts to change their practices and punish officers suspected of racism.
Police unions accuse the government of scapegoating them for deep-rooted social ills in an attempt to quell public anger after the killing of George Floyd unleashed protests in France as anger at police violence and racism swept the world.
The protests in France have centred around Adama Traore, who died in police custody in circumstances similar to the killing of Floyd.
Traore was celebrating his 24th birthday on July 19, 2016, when three police officers used their weight to restrain him. By the time he arrived at the police station, he was unconscious and could not be revived.
Many among the women protesting outside the Paris police headquarters were wives and partners of officers. Some said the stigma against police was unjust.
One carried a message for Interior Minister Christophe Castaner: "Respect our police."
Castaner infuriated police this month when he acknowledged there were cases of racism in the force and proposed punishing any officer guilty of "proven suspicions of racism."
Hundreds of police protested on Friday night outside Paris' Bataclan concert hall, where 90 people were killed in an attack by Islamist militants in 2015.
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