Crowd Rallies for French Farmers on Trial in Attack
- Share via
MILLAU, France — Thousands of supporters and activists gathered in a show of solidarity with a French sheep farmer who went on trial Friday for vandalizing a local McDonald’s and who has become a national symbol of anti-globalization.
Jose Bove was driven to the courthouse in Millau with nine co-defendants in a wagon pulled by a tractor. More than 15,000 demonstrators converged outside the courthouse and elsewhere in this southern French town, police said.
“We will continue the fight! We will win!” the crowd cried.
The attack by Bove, a sheep farmer and local leader of the radical Peasant Confederation, made McDonald’s a main target in a wave of protests last year decrying the fast-food chain as a symbol of American trade “hegemony” and economic globalization.
The 10 farmers each face up to five years in jail and a $72,400 fine if found guilty of partially dismantling the McDonald’s branch.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
