Kurds in France mourn victims of cultural center shooting

Hundreds of people from France’s Kurdish community gathered at Republic Square in Paris on Saturday to demand justice over an attack that killed three and wounded three others in a Kurdish cultural center.

The protestors, joined by politicians including the mayor of the central 10th district where the shooting took place, waved flags and listened to tributes to the victims.

"We know that we are under threat, Kurds in general, Kurdish activists and militants. France owes us protection," said Berivan Firat, the spokesperson for the Kurdish democratic council in France (CDK-F) which organised the gathering.

After the peaceful protest ended, clashes broke out as some of the demonstrators threw projectiles at police who responded with tear gas.

Several cars were overturned and small fires set alight near the square.

Chaos dans le centre de Paris, des véhicules retournés et incendiés. Affrontements en cours. pic.twitter.com/h5JvCTZo94

— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) December 24, 2022

The killings were carried out by a gunman identified as William M. by the French media, a 69-year-old man who the authorities said had recently been freed from detention while awaiting trial for a sabre attack on a migrant camp in Paris a year ago.

Following questioning of the suspect, investigators had added a suspected racist motive to initial accusations of murder and violence with weapons, the prosecutor's office said on Saturday.