Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a different view, saying protesters should "show how displeased they are with [China's] policies." Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), suggesting that President Bush boycott the opening ceremony in Beijing, said: "These events underscore why I believe the Bush administration has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy toward China."
In Paris, where police wrestling with street protesters is as expected a part of the culture as the arrival of the new Beaujolais, trouble started early Monday. The torch was barely a block into its journey when the athlete who was holding it came upon scuffling protesters and climbed aboard a bus to wait out the melee.
So much chaos ensued that Chinese officials accompanying the torch snuffed out its flame numerous times and torchbearers were bundled onto buses midway through the 18-mile route.
The left-leaning mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, draped the ornate City Hall with a banner reading, "Paris Defends Human Rights Around the World."
Meanwhile, pro-Tibetan banners were displayed all over the City of Light, and protesters dangled Tibetan flags and banners with the interlocking Olympic rings depicted as handcuffs from iconic Paris facades including Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, despite police efforts to stop them.
But unlike London, where 37 people were arrested Sunday during the torch's relay, Paris police were able to keep disrupters far enough away that no one could snatch the torch from its bearer.
One activist was arrested just before he could grab the torch from former French hurdler Stephane Diagana as he began the relay by bounding down the steps of the Eiffel Tower. In all, 20 people were arrested in Paris on Monday, but all but one were released within a few hours.
Repeating a tactic used in London, Parisian police created a human wall to shield the 80 athletes taking turns carrying the torch. Nearly 3,000 police, some in riot gear, were deployed along the route -- in trucks, on foot, jogging, on in-line skates and in boats along the Seine.
"There are more policemen out today than I have seen for a visiting president or king," said Paul Galan, 53 and unemployed. He said he spontaneously joined the fray near the Eiffel Tower after seeing dozens of people wearing "Free Tibet" headbands. He bought one and began shouting at the passing torchbearer and at a gaggle of Chinese students who were holding their country's flag and singing.
