France rocked by student protests

Global News Podcast

This episode of the Global News Podcast covers a series of high-stakes international developments, ranging from civil unrest in France to legal

Key takeaways

• French students have engaged in violent protests across the country due to teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms.
• The family of Renee Good is suing the Trump administration for wrongful death following a shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

Main topics

• French student protests
• US immigration law suits

Notable quotes

The buildings are like falling apart. There's no nurse... We need money.

Conclusion

The episode provides a sobering look at the intersection of civil righ

Transcript preview

Speaker 8 (0:00) This BBC podcast is supported by ads Speaker 4 (0:02) outside the UK. Speaker 6 (0:36) Hi, I'm Marie Kooi from Asia Specific, where we bring you Asia-Pacific stories, unpacked by those who know them best. Indonesia is considering allowing dual citizenship for the first time to try to stop the country's best and brightest permanently leaving the country. But only a limited pool of people would be eligible. Most countries in Asia don't allow citizens to hold another passport, so is Indonesia's move smart? Join us twice a week. Search for Asia Specific wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Speaker 7 (1:08) This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Friday, the 2nd of October, these are our main stories. French police have arrested almost 2,000 people during violent student protests that have spread across the country. The family of Rene Good, who was shot by a US immigration agent in Minneapolis, is suing the Trump administration. The American death row inmate, Krista Pike, is reported to be receiving life-saving medical care after surviving a botched execution. Speaker 7 (1:48) Also in this podcast, Vladimir Putin repeats his warning that Russia is prepared to use nuclear weapons if it finds itself at war with Europe. And... I'm Speaker 4 (1:59) glad that our show sort of helped him stay calm and, if anything, not make the situation worse. Delighted that we played a very, very small role in this event. Speaker 7 (2:10) The makers of an air disaster TV show respond after a fly Dubai passenger said the programme taught him how to stop the plane from crashing. Speaker 4 (2:20) For Speaker 7 (2:25) more than a week now, pupils across France have been protesting outside secondary schools about an education system they say is failing them. Speaker 7 (2:41) They're frustrated about a shortage of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings. But on Thursday, demonstrations took a more violent turn, with clashes between police and protesters at schools across the country. Almost 2,000 people were arrested and 300 police officers injured. At least two high schools were set on fire and one reported that a head teacher was doused in petrol. The government has accused hard-left politicians of encouraging the unrest to create tension ahead of next year's presidential elections. But students see it very differently. Speaker 4 (3:17) The buildings are like falling apart. There's no nurse. There's no... Titter. We need money. This is also with the rise Speaker 6 (3:27) of the far right and the elections, which are coming soon. And if we cannot vote, the only way to make everybody hear us is to do this. Speaker 7 (3:37) We heard more about how the demonstrations have escalated from Lisa Louis, a freelance journalist in Paris. They started off as mostly Speaker 3 (3:47) very peaceful protests. Speaker 3 (3:51) And then police were deployed and then clashes happened across France. Hundreds of schools are now hit by these blockades or demonstrations. And then the protests would get quite violent in certain areas. Speaker 3 (4:10) I was at one school where there's a blockade going on just north of Paris in Agnès Sorsen, a secondary school. And the pupils there were telling me that they were sitting basically peacefully in front of their school. And then the police arrived and used... tear gas and arrested one pupil there. So, you know, it's very difficult to figure out what happened exactly where, but it seems like clashes are now multiplying. And when you look at the pictures that are being broadcast on TV here in France today, there's lots of fire, you know, burning waste bins across France, clashes between protesters and the police. the protests really seem to get more violent. A far-left party, France Unbowed, under Jean-Luc Mélenchon, they've been showing pictures of themselves with the students in front of the secondary schools, saying basically they need to defend and fight for their rights and the police should be non-violent towards them. And then we heard also Bali Bagha Ayoko, who's the mayor of Saint-Denis, one of the Paris suburbs. He was saying basically... in certain cases, violence was justified. And that really caused an uproar throughout the political class. Other politicians then came out and said, you know, no, violence is not justified in any case. And LFE, the France Unbowed Party, had to backpedal. Speaker 7 (5:36) Lisa Louis in Paris. When René Good was killed in January by an ICE agent in the city of Minneapolis, it sparked protests across the United States. A video showed the officer firing several shots into her car, an action the agency later claimed was in self-defence. It led to calls for the Trump administration to rein in ICE agents deployed in cities around the country. Now Renee Good's family are launching legal proceedings against the government and the agent responsible for her death. The family's lawyer told a news conference, our government has become a grave and mortal threat to its own citizens. Rene Good's brother, Brent Ganger, spoke to journalists. Speaker 4 (6:18) What happened to Rene was completely senseless. And the fact that there's been no accountability, no investigation, no expression of condolence, no change in policy is completely mind-blowing. What happened to America? Something must change now. Speaker 7 (6:35) Our correspondent, Tom Bateman, has been telling us more. Speaker 8 (6:39) These are civil lawsuits that have been brought by the family of Renee Good. These are civil cases, so they're not criminal cases. One of the things that came out of the press conference that was held by the lawyers was their complaint really was because these are federal agencies, it's a lot harder than if it was state or local law enforcement to lodge these kind of complaints. But they have done so. And there are two civil lawsuits, the first of which asserts wrongful death through, it says, battery assault, false imprisonment. of emotional distress and negligence. And then there is a second lawsuit which alleges a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights. And what the lawyers have said here basically is they argue that the federal government, the Trump administration and these agencies, including the agent who shot Rene Good, were involved in effect in a conspiracy to try to suppress the rights both of Hispanic and Somali communities that were being rounded up. But also they said to silence those who were trying to to protest against it. So it's a pretty broad ranging kind of a lawsuit. I mean, this second one names Kristi Noem, who was the Homeland Security Secretary at the time, it names Stephen Miller, President Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff, it names Jonathan Ross, the agent involved in this. So, you know, this is a pretty broad attempt to try to bring damages. The Trump administration has responded to that and said it will vigorously defend what it says are baseless civil lawsuits. It then goes on to give a comment from President Trump himself, saying that he believed that Renee Goode was a very solid, wonderful person