News

April 27, 2017

Youth protest against French election ends in violence

Youth protest against French election ends in violence

A screengrab taken from an AFP TV video shows members of the French police special forces launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris, on January 9, 2015 where at least two people were shot dead on January 9 during a hostage-taking drama at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris, and five people were being held, official sources told AFP. Several hostages were freed after French commandos stormed a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris where an assailant was holed up on January 9. After several explosions, police stormed the shop in Portes de Vincennes and everal hostages exited the store shortly afterwards and were taken to safety. AFP PHOTO / AFPTV / GABRIELLE CHATELAIN

A protest by French youth against the centrist candidate, Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, turned violent on Thursday, local report said.

The report stated that hundreds of school students took to the streets of the French capital saying, “Neither Le Pen nor Macron,” whose projects they said did not meet their expectations.

It noted that “on the sidelines of the demonstration, the hooded young people threw projectiles at riot police who replied by using tear gas to disperse the crowd.”

The local report added that anti-fascist and anti-capitalist rallies were also reported in Nantes, Toulouse and Rennes.

At the end of the first round of French elections on Sunday, centrist Macron and anti-immigrant Le Pen reached the run-off, knocking out traditional right and left parties.

In spite of unstable momentum, Macron is predicted to defeat Le Pen with 59 per cent against 41 per cent on May 7.