France: Protesters in Paris demonstrate against racism

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 under 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 in the Paris suburbs of Villiers-le-Bel while allegedly trying to escape a police check.

Bah's family blames the police for his death.

The protesters marched to the former home of Lamine Dieng, a 25-year-old Franco-Senegalese man arrested in 2007 who died in a police van.

Speaking to the Associated Press at the protest, Ramata Dieng, sister of Lamine Dieng said she hoped the protests were not just a moment of "brief awareness."

A separate demonstration in support of undocumented workers that drew hundreds of protesters 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 US dollars) to Dieng’s relatives after protracted legal wrangling.

The protest comes in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, an African American man whose death in the US city of Minneapolis galvanized protesters around the globe to rally against racism and police brutality.