All photos copyright © Eric Francis. All rights reserved.

Young women with arms linked face police line containing the protest to the sidewalk outside the National Opera House. Behind the gendarmes were officers from the National Police, also equipped in riot gear. It may have been that the city was expecting a lot larger protest; generally they are about 20 times the size. There's a lot of social psychology in the way that Americans are basically brainwashed into kissing the ass of the police; America has a love affair with the police, who tend to be fairly aggressive with them. In France, it seems customary for young people to stand up to the police at protests, but in general the police serve a defensive rather than offensive purpose.



Digital photo by Eric Francis. All rights reserved.