Violent incidents erupted in Paris Thursday as French taxi drivers took to the capital’s roads to protest against U.S. online ridesharing service UberPOP.
The UberPop app was ruled illegal by the French government last year, but the company hasn’t yet exhausted all legal recourse.
Didier Hogrel, president of the National Federation of Taxis, told CNN that the taxi drivers were taking action at Paris’ airports, at the capital’s Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon train stations, and at Porte Maillot, in the Montparnasse area. One taxi driver was injured by a private car driver near Orly airport Thursday morning and was taken to a hospital, he said.
U.S. singer Courtney Love said she had been caught up in the protests, tweeting, “they’ve ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. they’re beating the cars with metal bats. this is France?? I’m safer in Baghdad.”