March 28, 2006 - 16:38

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivresse/120718190/

The anti-CPE demonstration of the 28th was the largest to date, with close to 3 million people in France according to the organizers (1 according to the police). At the end of the demonstration, riots erupted on the Place de la République.

Here, a policeman is firing paintballs to mark troublemakers: the unwashable paint will allow the police to arrest them later on. [EDIT]: it actually seems to be pepper balls, see comments hereunder.

Part of Demonstrations

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Comments

Simon Grossi says:

Belle photo...
Je ne connaissais pas cette technique au paintball...
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Aerosol says:

Madre mía... ¡que miedo!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Alain Bachellier says:

C'est un radar mobile ?

Belle photo a négocier avec le Sirpa ;-))
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

.steve.t [deleted] says:

damn clever.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

AndreasC says:

Scary. Another great photo.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Ch’guss says:

Je viens d'apprendre aussi le marquage du bétail avant le transport et la séquestration. Classe :))
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

:alain: says:

trés beau tout le reportage
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Urban cow-boy says:

chargé avec des billes de couleur verte
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

danieleflorio says:

wonderful shot :D
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Sawrah says:

Excellent capture!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

tilo driessen says:

intense
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Foro Teleco says:

scary...
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Hughes Léglise-Bataille says:

Ouaip, c'est bien la bête !
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

mobilohm (away for three weeks) says:

he ben même avec les morceaux de vélo qui tombent je préfère être de mon côté que du tien.
quelqu'un a-t-il gouté de la pepperball?
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Hughes Léglise-Bataille says:

Pas moi en tous cas, et j'en ai aucune envie !
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

_ P _ says:

Pas mal le p'tit jouet!
(T'as des photos de quelqu'un marqué?)
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

v i я υ s c r a c κ r s™ says:

Pepper Ball Rulez!!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

northern green pixie says:

Worthy of blogging.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Hughes Léglise-Bataille says:

@P: non, malheureusement...

@Northern green pixie: thx !
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

thebigdurian says:

damn, looks like a fun job...
good photo.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

arnitr says:

Your pictures here are so great.
I'm both shocked and impressed.

Keep on with your good work.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

qvtqht says:

@Ivresse des sens: Your post stretches the page... Could you possibly post a smaller thumbnail with a link to the bigger image?
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Scott Ingram Photography says:

Great shot. All those riots are crazy. Nice work.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

J Diggity says:

Very cool, and interesting story behind it.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Kris Kros says:

Super shot!!!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

ms4jah says:

thanks for the fascinating description. Police mark trouble makers with paintballs so police can arrest later. I wonder if it would fly in the U.S.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

RichardLowkes says:

do the troublemakers bring a change of clothes? :)
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

ms4jah says:

Maybe they try to hit them in the head, it's only a paintball right?
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

tessy says:

good shot. thankyou
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

jbenson2 says:

This is a great photo with a lot of detail, but the description is wrong. This is not a Paintball gun. It shoots PEPPERBALLS to dispurse the crowd.

As mentioned by Ivresse des sens, it fires a PAVA Capsaicin II pepperball at rates up to 700 shots per minute.
It can create a very hot and active pepper cloud for crowd control.

Specifications are found at:
www.pepperball.com/pdf/whatispava.pdf
.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Lynn. says:

Extraordinary and wonderful shot, and by no means the first time I've seen the French police look daunting.

In 1987, some pretty police with machine guns slung over their shoulders chased my young children off the lawns at the Palais Royal, yelling at the tops of their lungs, "C'est interdit! C'est interdit!" Since we'd just arrived in the city, my kids didn't understand what they were saying, and were completely freaked out by the experience and just stood there frozen.

In my 20 years of living in the US - several of them in some pretty funky neighbourhoods - I've never personally seen anything quite as frightening as that. I always think that it's no wonder the French/American relationship has its areas of bizarre tension.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Green Pimp [deleted] says:

Beautiful work. Inspiring. Keep shooting!!!!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

ßlϋeωãvε says:

I dunno what's worse, PepperBalls or Plastic/Rubber Bullets. I've seen the Police in Northern Ireland using plastic bullets, and they can be lethal.

Then again, an uncontrollable crowd can be a scary thing!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

phil-it says:

Jolie!
Quelle concentration

"Lequel de ces jeunes cons je vais bien pouvoir me faire ?"
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Professor Rogers says:

excellent shot, protests always make good photos
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Top a Nice says:

un, deux, trois...soleil!
Ca rigole plus.
Nice shot
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

cudmore says:

I'll add to the craziness. Excellent work HUGO, all your shots are exceptional. Hope you had some fun today at the april 4 protest. Just returned from Marseille anti CPE and again, a family affair.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

Smoke et Miroirs says:

ha...so thats how they do it. Must have been manic taking the photos...i saw there was a phenomenal ammoutn of photographers..some getting targeted
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

green flamingo says:

Ouch! Those things really hurt.
Great photo.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

lightspeeder1 says:

Where can I get one of those!!???? Some of the people I've come across....Oh boy, I'd have some fun with that!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

jbenson2 says:

Just another post to update the new people - this photo is not a paintball gun.

It is a high speed repeating gun (700 shots per minute) that shoots PEPPER spray into the crowd to disperse them.

I read the chemical analysis and trust me, you don't want to be hit by this stuff.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

ojaipatrick says:

wow awesome imagery!
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

monkeywobble says:

Yow, nice shot. I haven't seen one of these since the WTO mess in Seattle.
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

tuxcomputers says:

They can be used to shoot markers, water, anti-freeze, glass shattering and training balls:

www.pepperball.com/le/products.asp
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

Ian David Blüm says:

looks just like my tippman A5 paintball gun, but I don't think I would want to get shot with one of these.
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

satanoid says:

Fucking fascists.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

tmonk42 says:

This is a Tippmann brand "A-5" model paintball marker with "E-Grip"
www.tippmann.com/product_guide/markerDetails. aspx?product...

700 shots per minute is the capped full auto speed for the first generation e-grip for the A-5. Current model e-grip can do over 1,000 shots per minute. The "hopper" only holds about 200 shots however. The pepperballs are made to the same size as paintballs so they can be used unmodified in the same gun. Obviously the crowd isn't wearing eye protection, so I would hope the officer is trained well enough to very carefully avoid hitting anybody in the head which could cause eye damage or loss.

Either way, great photo!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

Cossette* says:

Superbe photo.... et très beau reportage.... ils étaient dur a trouver ceux la... je me suis longtemps demandée a quoi ressemblé ce marqueur et pouvaient etre planqué les tireurs... merci pour cette info...
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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March 28, 2006 - 16:38

Comments

Simon Grossi says:

Aerosol says:

Alain Bachellier says:

.steve.t [deleted] says:

AndreasC says:

Ch’guss says:

:alain: says:

Urban cow-boy says:

danieleflorio says:

Sawrah says:

tilo driessen says:

Foro Teleco says:

Hughes Léglise-Bataille says:

mobilohm (away for three weeks) says:

Hughes Léglise-Bataille says:

_ P _ says:

v i я υ s c r a c κ r s™ says:

northern green pixie says:

Hughes Léglise-Bataille says:

thebigdurian says:

arnitr says:

qvtqht says:

Scott Ingram Photography says:

J Diggity says:

Kris Kros says:

ms4jah says:

RichardLowkes says:

ms4jah says:

tessy says:

jbenson2 says:

Lynn. says:

Green Pimp [deleted] says:

ßlϋeωãvε says:

phil-it says:

Professor Rogers says:

Top a Nice says:

cudmore says:

Smoke et Miroirs says:

green flamingo says:

lightspeeder1 says:

jbenson2 says:

ojaipatrick says:

monkeywobble says:

tuxcomputers says:

Ian David Blüm says:

satanoid says:

tmonk42 says:

Cossette* says:

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