No tear gas, burning barricades and heated face-to-faces with riot cops this summer. Even the late June “Nahel Merzouk riots“—after the name of the teen who died shot by the police during a traffic stop—ended before Bastille Day.
“The peak of French rioting has passed”, French president Macron said on July 4.
He didn’t need a Magic 8 Ball to say it with confidence. The French rarely protest during the summer months.
But this doesn’t mean they somehow forgot that police forces are more violent and militarized than ever, that they are totally okay with retiring later, making less money and seeing the wealth gap widening, among other current and very relevant issues.
It won’t take much for people to take the streets again.
I stumbled upon this amazing wall art under several different bridges in Nantes. The first set depicts the series of protests against the pension reform between January and June 2023, and the second one focuses on the teen killed by the police in June.
People don’t forget. The fight doesn’t stop here.
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