A large crowd of demonstrators in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have staged a march against state and local legislation passed in the wake of the fatal school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that ban individuals from carrying their guns on school grounds or in school zones. The mobilization is being called the “Stop School Seizures” and is billed as an effort by residents of the state to repeal a law that would have allowed the school district to seize firearms from students’ homes and placed them in storage lockers or in the homes of school employees.
The weapon of choice for the protesters was a knife, but not everyone was prepared to embrace the spirit of the movement. The police appear to have brought on the SWAT team to keep order; several people were taken into custody, with the conditions of those arrested not immediately known. According to eyewitnesses, loudspeakers were pressed into service so that protesters would disperse from the streets. That turned out to be more difficult than it was anticipated to be:
Witnesses on scene report “SECURITY ROLLING THROUGH” to disperse the crowd, literally. This is what it looked like over here: https://t.co/xv6anMHH2i pic.twitter.com/iUyaVRdGj6 — David Ng (@DNgNYT) January 24, 2019
And in Paris, violent clashes between demonstrators and police officers were reported during a demonstration against France’s anti-speeding law. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Paris and in other French cities Wednesday evening, said the AP. Police were deployed in riot gear to try to disperse the protesters, and many claims of being pepper-sprayed seemed to be on the upswing.
Italy’s embattled prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, appeared to show some concern for the extent of the resistance as demonstrators were pepper-sprayed by police officers following the “Stop Police Violence” march.
In Germany, controversial demonstrations against a law that would ban the wearing of face-covering veils on public transportation also drew crowds. Two members of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party were reportedly killed this week and other political prisoners were critical of the death threats made toward the party’s leader.
Read the full story at The Guardian, Reuters, and CNN.
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