Tear gas fired at rally against police brutality and injustice

Paris police fired tear gas and blocked demonstrators from marching to protest police brutality and racial injustice in the French capital on Saturday. Protesters set off volleys of firecrackers and shouted at police but were otherwise peaceful.

Families and others trying to leave the protest struggled to get out because police had blocked off most exit routes.Police decided to bar the crowd from marching from the Place de la Republique in eastern Paris toward the city's main opera house, as had been planned initially.

A police official told The Associated Press that the decision was made because of a nationwide ban on gatherings of more than ten people to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.The protest was part of actions worldwide galvanized by the Black Lives Matter movement and the death of George Floyd in the U.S.

(Image Credit: AP)