Paris police teargas orchestra at peaceful protest, conductor calls it an alarm signal

French riot police fired teargas at a peaceful orchestra performing in central Paris last week, forcing hundreds of musicians to stop playing as canisters landed among their instruments and started small fires. The Orchestre du Nouveau Monde (ONM), a Paris-based ensemble co-founded in 2022 by conductor Étienne Jarrier, had gathered at Place de la République ahead of a student and union demonstration. Despite alerting police to their presence and receiving assurances they would be warned before any charge or gassing, the orchestra was targeted repeatedly until the square was empty.

Jarrier, 25, described how the musicians tried to play on even as riot police encircled the square and lobbed teargas canisters. “There were teargas canisters landing in the double bass and music stand cases, and starting fires the musicians had to stamp out,” he said. The orchestra only stopped when it became clear the musicians themselves were directly targeted. After about twenty minutes, with almost nobody else left in the square, the conductor ordered the performance to end.

The ONM, which describes itself as “anti-racist, anti-capitalist, feminist, environmentalist and committed to de-growth,” aims to link artistic performance with activism. Its members, all volunteers, include hundreds of young professional and amateur musicians. The orchestra has previously played at the foot of a melting Alpine glacier, outside the headquarters of the far-right Rassemblement National, and as a welcoming committee for Marine Le Pen, where it performed the EU anthem Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

Convergence of struggles

Saturday’s gathering was what Jarrier called “a day of what we call a convergence of struggles.” The square was the starting point for a demonstration by high-school students protesting the education system and by unions angry at the government’s failure to address wider grievances. Jarrier said the orchestra’s political engagement made its presence necessary. Between 400 and 500 musicians answered his appeal to come to the square with their instruments.

Before the protest, orchestra members had informed the CRS riot police of their plans and were told they would be warned if the square was to be cleared. However, while the orchestra was rehearsing before a happy crowd, teargas canisters began landing around them. The musicians continued playing as the crowd dispersed, but the gassing continued even when the square was empty except for the orchestra. The musicians were “stunned” and “truly shocked,” Jarrier said, adding that it was “quite scary.”

Alarm signal

As the musicians packed their instruments, the orchestra’s security volunteers formed a human chain between them and the police. Jarrier expressed anger at what happened, calling it an “extremely serious shift in maintaining order.” He said the government was not listening to demands and was responding with police rather than politics, trying to divert attention from a legitimate movement demanding better public services and better lives. “We are not the martyrs, but the image of an orchestra being gassed should be an alarm signal,” he said. The French Ministry of Defence and the Paris police prefecture did not respond to requests for comment on the use of teargas at Place de la République. The incident has drawn attention to the aggressive tactics of French security forces, including the CRS, which have been widely criticised for their liberal use of stun grenades, flash-balls, baton charges, and teargas against protesters.