French mayor caught in viral video clash says student protesters 'could be my children'
The mayor said he was protecting young protesters as the government faces criticism over police tactics and more than 6,000 arrests.
- France's high school protests have escalated into a nationwide movement, with around 256,000 people demonstrating and nearly 500 arrests reported by Tuesday.
- Demonstrations began late last month over rundown facilities and teacher shortages, then expanded from high school students to include parents, teachers, and union workers.
- Rights groups and protesters accused police of excessive force in Paris; a teenager lost a hand from a stun grenade and a 14-year-old suffered facial injuries.
- By Tuesday, 43 security officers were wounded in clashes as President Emmanuel Macron convened an emergency meeting to address the escalating unrest.
- Amid the domestic crisis, US President Donald Trump blamed France's unrest on "mass migration" and Islam, a response that sparked controversy.
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264 Articles
Bally Bagayoko (53) is going viral on social media. The mayor of the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis appears at the student protests and positions himself between the police and the demonstrators. In France, the politician from the radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI) has long divided public opinion. A portrait.
Mayor LFI of Saint-Denis tried to interpose between police and protesters during the demonstration in Paris in support of the social movement of high schools on Tuesday. A sequence that goes around the international press.
French students renew school blockades as education minister invites representatives for talks
High school and university students renewed blockades across France on Thursday to demand more education resources, as Education Minister Edouard Geffray invited student representatives for talks.
The mayor of Saint-Denis has gone viral for protecting students from riot police, but has been the victim of 'fake' images
In Paris, Nantes and Bordeaux, among other places, the extensive French school protests continued on Thursday. Later in the day, France's Minister of Education will again hold talks with high school students about the situation.
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