According to media reports, demonstrators and police clashed in Paris on the second day after a deadly shooting at a Kurdish cultural centre on Friday.
Protesters overturned vehicles, some of which caught fire, and hurled items against police, who replied with tear gas. The demonstration occurred after a shooter murdered three people and wounded three others in a possible racist attack Friday at the cultural centre on Rue d’Enghien in downtown Paris.
Following the horrific attack on the Kurdish community, demonstrators shattered car windows and set some of them on fire. After a fairly calm gathering in the city’s Place de la Republique to mourn the three dead, the protest resumed on Saturday.
Hundreds of Kurdish protesters joined French officials, including the mayor of Paris’ 10th district, in paying respect to the victims at the city’s central plaza, where rallies are regularly conducted.
During the march, Berivan Firat, a spokeswoman for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France stated “We are not being safeguarded in any way. Six Kurdish activists have been assassinated in broad daylight in the centre of Paris in the last ten years.”
The organisation had called for people to meet in the area for a peaceful rally on its social media outlets.
Earlier on Saturday, the alleged gunman’s (69) arrest was removed for health reasons, and he was brought to a police mental hospital, according to a prosecutor.
