1966: De Gaulle Cancels Speech
By International Herald Tribune August 26, 2016 9:12 am
DJIBOUTI, French Somaliland — Rioting demonstrators today [Aug. 26] forced President Charles de Gaulle to cancel a public speech in Djibouti’s main square. The demonstration — in favour of independence from France — left the
square blood-stained and littered with stones, broken bottles and clubs.
A gendarme was killed and scores of
people injured in clashes between the demonstrators and police. Some of those injured were said to be in serious condition as a result of tear-gas and concussion grenades used by police and troops to clear the square and the surrounding streets.
The trouble began when police were unable to control the crowd, which built up in the square despite surrounding road blocks and control points.
Many of those in the crowd carried clubs and staves and kept up a constant howl of abuse against the troops ringing the square and against French colonialism. — New York Herald Tribune, European
Edition, Aug. 27, 1966
http://iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/1966-de-gaulle-cancels-speech/?_r=0
