Some 2,500 people gathered in Brussels on Monday to denounce police violence reported during protests against education reform held a few days earlier. Gathering in front of the courthouse and then in the streets of the capital, participants held signs such as "My teachers, my heroes" and "Violence is not democracy." The mobilization followed the events of June 4 and 5, when demonstrations against the Wallonia-Brussels Federation's program decree degenerated into clashes with police. Teachers, students, and pupils had mobilized against budgetary measures they consider detrimental to the French-speaking education system. The police interventions, marked in particular by the use of water cannons and tear gas, have drawn widespread criticism and accusations of excessive use of force, especially against minors. In some Brussels neighborhoods, traces of the tensions remained visible several days after the incidents, with burned-out bicycles and graffiti bearing witness to the recent clashes. Significant police presence was also deployed to prevent further unrest. The protest movement, supported in particular by the Mars Attacks collective, announced its intention to continue gatherings in several Walloon cities over the coming weeks. This new mobilization illustrates the rising tensions surrounding the education reform and the growing debate it is generating in French-speaking Belgium, both on the substance of the proposed measures and on the management of public order during demonstrations.
