In a temperature of over 40° C, Extinction Rebellion organised a peaceful demonstration, a sit-in of around 100 people, on Pont de Sully, Paris.
Their aim was to protest against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Chanting ‘la police avec nous, on fait ça pour vos enfants’ they linked arms to resist the police and traffic.
The Paris police force CRS (Compagnies républicaines de sécurité) which specialises in crowd control assembled on the bridge and demanded that the members of Extinction Rebellion leave. When they did not respond, the police started dragging the militants away and, within minutes, sprayed the young militants with tear gas from canisters, pulling their glasses off in order to spray the product direct into their eyes.
The members of Extinction Rebellion, stained yellow from the chemical, were incapacitated and were dragged by the police to either side of the road. None of the militants showed any sign of violence, and they tended one another with water and eye drops in an attempt to counter the effect of the noxious lacrymogène. Tuesday 28th June 2019, Pont de Sully 5ème arrondissement, Paris. Photograph by Andrew Lyndon-Skeggs of ANLS Photography. www.anlsphotography.photoshelter.com