More protests in France

...including Clermont-Ferrand, where I spent Friday night.

When Meredith and I arrived back in Montlucon on Saturday, we took the long way home because there is some sort of carnival going on here. Just around the corner from our apartment, we came across a huge group of people parading. They weren't young college students like the main protesters right now, but they were clearly protesting something.

Suddenly, and old man was thrown down into the street in front of us. His hat came off and his head started to bleed. He pushed himself back up onto his knees and then onto his feet, looking stunned and starting to walk away. The man who pushed him and two others grabbed him and forced him up against the wall of a nearby restaurant, pushing his face into the window glass and twisting his arms behind his back as if they were arresting him.

A policeman strode over and -- instead of dealing with the three men who were treating this old man quite roughly -- handcuffed the old man. Two of the guys (not police officers) took him by the elbows and ran with him across the street, continuing to run, even when the old man stumbled and scraped his knee on the ground. They stuffed him into the backseat of a hatchback car (with no police markings) and drive away.

As far as we could tell, this old man had done nothing, except perhaps shout something negative at the protestors. It was a really bizarre and disturbing scene to witness, especially because he appeared nonviolent, yet was treated so roughly.