French demonstrators stage protests against police violence

Bah's family suspects officers were responsible. The protesters planned to march to the former home of Lamine Dieng, a 25-year-old Franco-Senegalese man arrested in 2007 who died in a police van.

Hundreds of people in Paris protested Saturday against racism and police violence and in memory of Black men who died following encounters with French police or suspicious circumstances. Many protesters congregated in the central Place de la Republique. Some carried a placard bearing the words "Justice For Ibo," a reference to Ibrahima Bah, 22, who died in an October motorbike crash near a police operation. Bah's family suspects officers were responsible.

The protesters planned to march to the former home of Lamine Dieng, a 25-year-old Franco-Senegalese man arrested in 2007 who died in a police van. A separate demonstration in support of undocumented workers planned to join up with the anti-racism march. Last week, it emerged that the French government agreed to pay 145,000 euros ($162,000) to Dieng's relatives after 13 years of legal wrangling.

Demonstrations have erupted across the globe decrying racism and police brutality after the brutal death in the United States last month of Black American George Floyd. In Paris, both of Saturday's protests were authorized by French authorities, who have been exercising caution over protests in recent weeks as the country emerges from coronavirus restrictions.

Other protests on Saturday in the French capital have, however, been banned, including an anti-racism demonstration near the U.S. Embassy by the Black African Defense League, and another protest linked to recent violence involving Chechens in the French city of Dijon. A small group of activists staged a flash protest Saturday outside the French Health Ministry in support of state medical workers, who are demanding higher pay and more hospital staff after France's once-renowned health care system struggled to cope with the virus crisis following years of cost cuts.

The protesters sprayed red paint on the ministry building, symbolizing blood, and on a mock medal..

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