Protesters heckle French conservative candidate Fillon

PARIS – Protesters angry at political corruption have greeted French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon by banging on pots on a campaign stop in northern France.

The incident in the town of Tourcoing is the latest hiccup for Fillon’s once-dominant presidential campaign. He is under investigation over allegations that his family members had high-paying fake parliamentary jobs. Fillon denies wrongdoing.

As the candidate arrived for a security meeting Friday, about 20 largely left-wing activists shouted “Fillon in prison!” and chanted “We want fake jobs too!” while a small group of Fillon supporters nearby shouted “Fillon, president!”

Riot police stood by but no violence was reported.

Fillon responded: “When you prevent people from campaigning, we’re not really in a democracy anymore.” During the meeting he pledged 3 billion euros in new security measures.