For Assa Traoré the parallels between her brother’s death and that of George Floyd are clear.
“They had the same words: “I can”t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,” she claimed.
“They were put in chokeholds, Adama took the weight of three policemen on him, George Floyd took the weight of three policemen on him,” she said.
Adama Traoré died in police custody in Persan, France, four years ago. Traoré’s family has repeatedly claimed police officers tackled him to the ground and that he died due to suffocation.
The cause of Adama Traoré’s death has never been definitely determined – other autopsies have rejected the idea of asphyxia.
Watch this week’s Culture Clash on how US protests reignited rage in France
On Tuesday, Assa spoke as 20,000 people gathered outside Paris’ courthouse in a banned protest against police violence.
The gathering had been banned on health grounds, but still the crowds came.
The vast majority were peaceful, but as the sun set clashes broke out as demonstrators burned bins and police fired tear gas.