French protesters took to the streets Thursday over the deaths of George Floyd and Adama Traoré.
Photo: Pascal Bonniere/Zuma PressPARIS—The killing of George Floyd has sparked marches and sporadic vandalism in Europe. In France, it has rekindled controversies over institutional racism and police violence in a society divided after the monthslong yellow-vest protests.
Thousands gathered in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Frankfurt and Berlin. Hamburg police said more than 1,000 people had gathered Friday afternoon outside the U.S. consulate, far more than the 250 participants police had permitted to maintain enough distance between people.
In London, thousands turned out in protest on Wednesday and last weekend, marching on government offices and to the U.S. Embassy, resulting in arrests and some violence and vandalism. Marches are planned in London and other British cities for this weekend.
Mr. Floyd, a black man, was killed in police custody, sparking protests across the U.S. over police brutality. A white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. The officer has been charged in the killing.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets this week in France, defying pandemic-inspired bans on large public gatherings, to express outrage over Mr. Floyd’s fate and that of a Frenchman of African descent who died in police custody four years ago.
In Paris, more than 20,000 people gathered in front of the city’s main courthouse to protest the death of Adama Traoré, after a postmortem report commissioned by the family concluded Tuesday that the young man likely suffocated after police pinned him to the ground.
Police have forbidden on the same health-related grounds a similar protest that organizers have called for Saturday on the Champ de Mars, a large open field that extends to the Eiffel Tower.
Mr. Traoré, a 24-year-old man of Malian origin, died shortly after being detained. He was still handcuffed when paramedics arrived at the police station and found him dead.
“The exact same thing is happening in France, and in France it’s even worse,” said Assa Traoré, Mr. Traoré’s elder sister, referring to the fact that none of the police officers who took her brother into custody faced charges after his death.
Several people in the crowd carried signs that read, in English, “I can’t breathe,” echoing some of Mr. Floyd’s last words, which were also reported to have been said by Mr. Traoré during his arrest.
A day after the protest, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner pledged that any member of the police force suspected of committing acts of violence or racism would be prosecuted. “Each wrongdoing—and it can happen—each excess, each word, including racist expressions, will be investigated,” he told parliament on Wednesday.
An investigation into Mr. Traoré’s death is still under way. Earlier coroner reports said underlying medical conditions may have contributed to his death
The French government has come under increasing pressure in recent years to address accusations of racism and violence by the police, notably during protests.
Last year, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged France to fully investigate reported cases of excessive use of police force against protesters in the yellow-vest movement, demonstrations that started in November 2018 against high fuel prices and morphed into nationwide antigovernment riots.
At least two dozen demonstrators lost eyes due to rubber projectiles fired by the police, and several hundred were injured.
Paris prosecutors are also investigating several cases of alleged police violence during recent protests against the government’s plan to overhaul the country’s pension system.
Earlier this year, the death of Cédric Chouviat, a deliveryman who died after being held on the ground during a police check near the Eiffel Tower, sparked criticism from lawyers and human-rights groups over restraint techniques used by French police.
Amnesty International has said that this particular restraint technique of applying weight and pressure to a person’s torso as they are held facedown on the ground, has been outlawed in several other countries because it carried a fatal risk.
Last month, Camélia Jordana, a French singer of Algerian descent, caused a storm after she said that people get “massacred by the police” in the Paris suburbs due to the color of their skin.
“Thousands of people do not feel safe in front of a police officer, I am one of them,” Ms. Jordana said on a popular TV talk show.
The killing of George Floyd has rekindled controversies over institutional racism and police violence in France.
Photo: Pascal Bonniere/Zuma PressHer comments drew the ire of police unions and of Mr. Castaner. “These comments are false and shameful and fuel hatred and violence,” the minister wrote in a tweet hours later.
Several opposition lawmakers condemned the protests in France this week, and said Mr. Traoré’s death should not be compared with that of Mr. Floyd.
“What is happening in the U.S. is of a different nature,” Senate President Gérard Larcher said, speaking on French radio RTL on Wednesday. “Protesting during a state of emergency is flouting the law,” he added.
Paris police eventually used tear gas to disperse people who remained at the Traoré protest into the evening on Tuesday. Officials had earlier tried to cancel the event, arguing that due to coronavirus gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited in Paris.
There were scattered clashes, as protesters lighted fires and riot police in body armor and helmets fired tear gas. Police detained 18 protesters. One person was injured, police said.
—Ruth Bender and Stephen Fidler contributed to this article.
Write to Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com
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