Security Forces Storm Paris University to End Student Occupation

A student occupation of the Pierre Mendès-France Center of the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, in Paris, was cleared in the early hours of Friday, April 20, as security forces raided the building.According to France24, nearly 100 protesters were removed from the center, known locally as Tolbiac, by force. A student cited by France24 said they tried to make a human chain to protect each other, and that police then pulled and kicked them. Reports circulated on social media saying a student had been seriously injured and was in a coma as a result of the raid. Police, however, denied the claims, but noted that a young man was treated in hospital for an elbow injury.Georges Haddad, president of the university, said he was relieved the occupation, which began on March 26, was over and that no one was injured. He decried the damage left in the occupation’s wake, however, and said hundreds of thousands of euro of public money would now have to be spent on the clean-up.Macron’s reforms would enable public universities to rank and accept applicants based on their academic merit. Credit: Anonymous via Storyful