"In the run-up to Christmas France saw widespread protests, including road blockades, from farmers angry at the government's policy of mass slaughter due to the cattle virus Lumpy Skin Disease. Most of the protests passed off peacefully, but a demo in a small town in south-west France ended with police pulling their guns on one farmer who was driving a tractor."
"But things became tense when officers of the CRS - the French riot police - ordered a farmer to halt and pointed guns at him. Video clips on social media show one uniformed officer and another in plain clothes pointing guns at the tractor. The farmer was arrested. The local leader of the Coordination Rurale union accused the police of "showing up like cowboys"."
"The police noticed that the tractor was continuing to move forward, so they drew their weapons. They felt they were in danger. "Obviously, this action is not insignificant, and I understand the emotion it has aroused. But if gendarmes and police officers are armed, it is to protect us and to protect themselves.""
A tractor protest in Auch on 27 December involved five tractors and about 30 farmers organised by Coordination Rurale intending to occupy the town centre and dump slurry outside La Depeche du Midi. Officers of the CRS ordered a tractor to stop, pointed guns at the driver and arrested the farmer after video showed officers with firearms. The local union leader accused police of "showing up like cowboys" and said an official complaint will be lodged with the IGPN. Gers préfet Alain Castanier and Interior Minister Laurent Nunez defended the police, saying the actions were taken because officers felt in danger and were within the legal framework.
Read at www.thelocal.fr
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