French Police Pepper Spray Disabled Yellow Vest Protester

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There has been outrage after shocking footage emerged showing a disabled Yellow Vest protester being pepper-sprayed in the face at the weekend.

According to witnesses, the man in the wheelchair was only asking the officer to give him back his glasses..

The officer starts to walk away then turns and fires pepper at close range into the disabled mans eyes.




The Express reports: The incident happened in Toulouse last weekend in what was the 16th consecutive protest over a two-day period against French President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

In shocking video footage filmed from the window of one of the buildings above the street, the man is seen talking to a police officer, who then walks away, prompting the disabled protester to follow in his electric wheelchair. It is then the officer turns abruptly and sprays the man in the face. A witness appears to confront the officer, who is dressed in riot police gear.

The video was uploaded to Facebook, where it has been shared more than 30,000 times.

Marie Pnose said of the video: “Even the disabled are not spared. This astounding scene shot in Toulouse is not a use of justified force.”

She later added: “If this scene is not an attack on the part of a policeman, then what is it?”

The footage comes after violence erupted in Paris again this weekend, with police using tear gas and water cannons to keep demonstrators at bay.

Armoured police struggled to suppress Yellow Vest protestors as they used the gas and cannons on the iconic Paris avenue, the Champs-Élysées.

Demonstrators also continued to block access to the famous landmark, causing disruption for thousands of people.

Tear gas and water cannons were also used in Bordeaux and Toulouse, where some protestors marched behind a “cacatov party” banner – a play on Molotov cocktail firebombs – encouraging people to throw “poo-bombs” at police.

 

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