For Postmedia Canada: Climate change activisits clash with cops in Paris
Nov. 29, 2015
What, for two weeks, had served as a sober, respectful shrine dedicated to the victims of the Paris terror attacks, turned into an ugly riot scene Sunday as police and activists clashed amid tear gas and flying projectiles.
The morning at Place de la Republique started peaceably.
Though they had been forced to cancel a march that was expected to draw 200,000 activists in advance of the climate conference COP21, environmental groups came up with creative ways to make their voices heard. They laid thousands of shoes at the square and formed a human chain that stretched three kilometres.
The atmosphere was hopeful, enthusiastic and optimistic.
But by 2 p.m., a chorus of discontent grew louder, with groups chanting their displeasure at being forbidden to march — a ban police imposed as a security measure following the terror attacks that killed 130 people in Paris Nov. 13.
“We want protection, not oppression,” they chanted.
“Police are everywhere. Justice, nowhere.”
Read more at https://torontosun.com/2015/11/29/climate-change-activists-clash-with-cops-in-paris
