Guillotine with effigy of PM in Turin, Italy
Riot police clashed with protesters in Turin to prevent them from reaching Town Hall. Official Labor Day celebrations with Covid-19 restrictions were taking place indoors, while hundreds took to the streets.
More than a thousand people carrying red flags and banners gathered in Turin for the traditional May demonstrations, Italian news agency ANSA reported. Several processions moved through the streets and gathered in a square by Town Hall. One of the biggest banners read: "Health crisis, social crisis, ecological crisis, to save ourselves we must change the system." Protesters also made an improvised guillotine with an effigy of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Amid the Covid-19 restrictions, the traditional Labor Day events were scaled down, with trade union representatives meeting the mayor at Town Hall while the ceremony was broadcast on a screen outside.
200+ detained as May Day protesters defy coronavirus lockdown in TurkeyWith regards to Turkey's focus on citizens filming police, recently in France, lawmakers passed a rather suspect bill dubbed the 'Global Security Law' which also outlaws the recording of police; which will just happen to include a ban on documenting the police brutality that became increasingly commonplace at Yellow Vest protests: French MPs finally pass draconian 'global security law' that allows 'broad surveillance of the population'
Footage from Istanbul shows that policing in the city was particularly heavy-handed.
Dozens of protesters attempted to march in Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square, marking Labor Day. Groups of demonstrators tried to approach the square from different directions, but they were met by a massive force of riot and plainclothes police officers.
Footage from the scene shows multiple police officers handling protesters, wrestling them to the ground and taking them away in police buses. Officers were seen brawling with the demonstrators and using pepper spray on them, as well as repeatedly deploying tear gas.
The Istanbul governor's office said some labor unions had been allowed to hold certain events to mark the holiday, while only those who gathered "illegally" in violation of Covid-19 rules were targeted by police after ignoring calls to disperse.
A smaller-scale demonstration was also attempted in the western Turkish port city of Izmir. All in all, more than 200 people were detained across the country during the protests.
May Day this year falls during a 17-day partial lockdown in Turkey, which was announced by the authorities earlier this week. The lockdown includes stay-at-home orders, as well as the closure of schools and some businesses in a bid to halt the recently accelerated spread of coronavirus in the country.
Ahead of May Day, the chief of the Turkish police also reportedly issued a special circular, urging officers to detain anyone who films or records police during demonstrations and take "legal action" against them. According to the document, circulated by Turkish media, audio and video recording allegedly violates the privacy of the officers, who are being filmed without their consent.
While the circular has been called unlawful and criticized as a threat to citizens' rights by advocacy groups, the police have remained silent on the matter and have not confirmed whether the document was authentic.
May Day mayhem: Protesters and riot cops battle in the streets of Lyon
May Day protests in the French city of Lyon got out of hand, with black-clad anarchists clashing with armored riot police. Tear gas was fired and squads of cops charged at demonstrators.
Trade unions and workers' groups took to the streets of Lyon on Saturday to mark International Workers' Day. Waving red banners, an estimated 3,000 workers were soon joined by black-clad anarchist protesters, who reportedly clashed with the larger groups of demonstrators.
Note that the average protester no longer wants to be associated with the so called anarchists.
Marching toward Place Bellecour in the center of the city, the procession found its way blocked by riot police. Scuffles soon broke out between the more militant anarchists and the police, who charged at the crowd several times.
As officers pushed the crowd back, some protesters resisted, and were met with batons and shields. Video footage shows the cops clubbing some protesters and dragging them off the street. French media reported at least four arrests by early afternoon.
When the procession finally reached Place Bellecour, the atmosphere was festive. Protesters danced, played drums and waved brightly colored umbrellas. However, police soon broke up the party with clouds of tear gas, after some demonstrators reportedly damaged protective panels around a statue of Louis XVI.
Rather than focusing on one specific issue, May Day is usually a clearinghouse for leftist dissent of all kinds, and across the country, protesters came together to air a spectrum of grievances. Some protested their wages and working conditions, others marched against new security bills that would dramatically extend the police's surveillance powers and criminalize the sharing of pictures of officers. Still more protested the government's perceived inaction against climate change and response to Covid-19.
French President Emmanuel Macron has seen his approval rating slide to 37% in the most recent polls, down from 43% at the beginning of the year. Opposition to his leadership hasn't just come from the left either. Late last month, a group of 20 retired generals penned a letter accusing Macron of allowing Islamist "hordes" to push France toward civil war. Some 58% of French people agree with the generals' warning, according to a poll published on Thursday by LCI TV.
Chaos grips Paris as violence & vandalism mark May Day protest
Lawlessness swept over the streets of Paris on Saturday, with left-wing protesters smashing windows and lobbing stones and fireworks at riot police. The cops have responded in kind, charging and clubbing the rioters.
Heavily armored riot police were nearby and responded with force. Video footage shows a squad of cops charging with shields raised to drive a crowd of vandals away from a bank.
Tear gas was used, but many rioters came wearing respirators and face masks. Protesters who came too close to police lines were treated to a hail of batons and pepper spray. Multiple videos show repeated and apparently indiscriminate police charges.
Police dispersed protesters from the Place de la Nation with water cannon. The powerful jets of water blew branches off trees and kept the crowd away from police lines.
With the demonstrations still ongoing, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that 34 people had been arrested in Paris by mid-afternoon.
Comment: Well that's one way to cull frivolous time-wasters from the payroll. Well done, Basecamp!