Elderly Woman Violently Knocked to Ground by French Riot Police (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Shocking footage has emerged online showing an elderly woman being knocked to the ground by French riot police at a Marseille protest honoring 80-year-old woman, killed when she was hit by a tear gas grenade during a French fuel tax demonstration.
French protestors clashed with police on the streets of Marseille during the march in memory of the octogenarian killed during demonstrations in 2018.
The footage from the protest on Saturday shows an elderly woman being knocked to the ground by riot police as they swarm a group standing on the pavement, the Daily Mail reported.
Over one thousand people took part in the march, which was organized in memory of Zineb Redouane, an 80-year-old woman killed on the sidelines of last year's fuel tax protests.
Standing at the window of her apartment just off of La Canebière near to where the protests were taking place, Zineb was hit in the face by shrapnel from a grenade while closing the shutters.
She died in hospital the next day, reportedly of a heart attack.
Yesterday, hundreds stood behind a set of banners that passed her apartment on the way to Marseille's Old Port area.
Written on one were the words 'tribute to Zineb', and beneath the slogan 'Batman kills, let's be Joker' (translated from French).
'We are all children of Zineb,' also proclaimed the people in the procession, reported La Provence.
But the march turned ugly as the protestors were met by a strong police presence, with two arrests being made.
Shocking footage from the scene shows the officers use batons to push back the small groups as they launch gas grenades. It is not clear if this was tear gas.
Amid the chaos of police rushing the protestors, an elderly woman pulling a shopping bag is flattened by officers, who then hit a protestor who tries to help her to her feet.
'Odious #Marseille: Policemen violently jostle an old lady who was pulling her shopping cart and they abandoned it in the gas!!' said one man sharing the video on social media.
The duty commissioner for the area told La Provence of the protests: 'Overall, everything went very well.'
France has been hit by a spate of protests on a range of issues since the yellow vest movement first began in October 2018 in protest at rising fuel prices and a high cost of living.
Protests in Marseille, including the one during which Zineb died, have also focused on demands for safer housing.
President Macron has been criticized for disregarding the views of poorer people living outside of Paris in favor of providing tax cuts to the wealthy.
