Old Video of Protests Over COVID-19 Restrictions Resurfaced
The Claim
A video shows police officers beating demonstrators during the recent protests in France.
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Social media users have circulated a video claiming it shows police officers beating demonstrators during the most recent protests in France.
“The French police continue to train the population the basics of democracy,” users wrote.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. The video is old and unrelated to the most recent protests in France.
Old Video of Protests Over COVID-19 Restrictions Surfaced
Misbar’s team found that the circulating video is not recent. It is outdated and unrelated to the ongoing protests in France over raising the retirement age by two years.
The footage dates back to at least 2021. It surfaced amid protests over the COVID-19 restrictions back then.
According to websites that published screenshots from the circulating video, French law enforcement officers arrested two women during anti-COVID pass protesters in Paris mall and used physical force to overpower.
The footage surfaced after hundreds of people took to the street and then to the Forum des Halles shopping center amid nationwide demonstrations against the COVID-19 restrictions. The group went inside the mall, partially underground and connected to the metro transit hub of Chatelet-Les Halles.
The protests took place after French President Emmanuel Macron announced the requirement of a COVID-19 pass or a negative test to have access to public places, including hospitals and malls.
Ongoing Protests Over the French Pension Reform
The claim surfaced after Emmanuel Macron signed a bill to raise the retirement age by two years. The law proclamation came after the French Constitutional Council approved the retirement-age measure after months of protests against this reform.
Earlier, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the street in several French cities against this new law that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Meanwhile, the French police have used tear gas and engaged in combat with violent anarchists in Paris.
Dozens of policemen were injured during the protests, and dozens of demonstrators were arrested nationwide. Videos of violent clashes surfaced online. However, this footage has nothing to do with the ongoing events.
Misbar has already debunked other videos misleadingly shared in relation to the protest in France.
Also this week, climate activists in southern France protested against a highway construction connecting Toulouse and Castres. The environmentalists built a wall and set fire to car tires in the middle of the road, agencies reported.
According to the demonstration’s organizers, the construction would affect 400 hectares of arable land.
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