Paris police shoot dead two during night of Macron reelection protests
Paris police shot dead two people in a car that was driving straight at them overnight Sunday, as the French capital erupted into violent protests following the reelection of President Emmanuel Macron, officials said.
The car was spotted driving the wrong way by authorities near the Pont Neuf in the heart of Paris, which had been barricaded off in a security perimeter ahead of the divisive election.
When the driver parked, “police approached to control the individuals present in the vehicle by pointing automatic weapons at him,” a witness told Le Figaro newspaper.
“The driver rushed off towards the police at full speed. The police fired immediately,” the witness said.
The 25-year-old driver and 31-year-old front passenger were killed. A 42-year-old man in the backseat was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, the public prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
A large police presence descended upon the scene in the heart of the capital, where white sheets covered the bodies and a Volkswagen sedan could be seen bisecting traffic lanes, according to Agence France-Presse.
An investigation was launched for “attempted voluntary manslaughter on persons in charge of public authority,” AFP said.
The bloody scene was just a mile from where Macron, 44, was celebrating his victory over far-right rival Marine Le Pen with a crowd of supporters on the Champ de Mars park.
Prosecutors, however, did not directly tie the police shooting to the election.
It came as masses took to the streets to protest Macron’s win — with wild videos showing phalanxes of riot cops repeatedly charging through the streets in a show of strength.
Footage taken by Nicolas Mercier of Hors-Zone Press shows dozens of officers hollering as they charge through the Les Halles shopping center, with the reason for the charge not immediately obvious.
The officers — wearing helmets with face shields, body armor and carrying batons — repeated the screaming charge several other times in the heart of the capital, the footage shows. At one point, they step aside as a stream of 18 officers zoom by on motorbikes, with a pair of EMT workers trailing them.
Smoke bombs were also flung during the melee, and officers fired tear gas to contain the crowds, the footage shows.
The US embassy was among those warning nationals on Sunday to avoid areas where protests “could potentially turn violent.”
Although he won comfortably, it was the closest the far-right has come to taking power, marking huge divides in the European nation.
Turnout was also the lowest in any presidential election second-round run-off since 1969 — with 8.6 percent of people who voted either delivering a blank ballot or spoiling their papers in a clear message of disgruntlement.
“Many in this country voted for me not because they support my ideas but to keep out those of the far-right,” Macron conceded, acknowledging that the country is “riddled with so many doubts, so many divisions.”
With Post wires
