Clashes erupt at Paris May Day rally

May 1, 2017 at 11:55

A week before the final round of the 2017 French presidential poll, the candidates and their supporters are holding rival May Day rallies, mirroring the divides in French society. Follow the day's events on our live blog.

Emmanuel Macron paid a tribute to a Moroccan man killed on the sidelines of a 1995 National Front May Day rally in a bid to remind voters of the far-right party’s dark past.
National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen held a rally at a Joan of Arc statue in downtown Paris, where he accused Macron of “doing a tour of graveyards” after a recent visit to the Holocaust Memorial and tribute to the Moroccan man killed during previous National Front May Day demonstration.
Marine Le Pen accused Macron of being a slave to the global financial system at a rally in the northern Parisian suburb of Villepinte.
Rival trade unions are holding rallies in Paris and across the country. Most are calling for a “Republican Vote” to block Le Pen, but they differ on their strategies to achieve their goals.