Walking yellow jackets: between looting and incidents, 121 protesters arrested

Police fired tear gas at protesters.

The "yellow vests" have four months and this Saturday they oppose the policy of French President Emmanuel Macron. The streets of Paris and other cities are full of protesters who have organized incidents with the police.

The first violence erupted shortly before midday on the famous Avenue des Champs-Elysées, where several thousand demonstrators had gathered.

According to the franceinfo website, at least 121 people have been arrested. Protesters, most of them dressed in black and wearing a hood or helmet on their heads, erected barricades in the streets, threw stones, were destroyed, vehicles and fire stations were set on fire. yellow "

According to the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, there are about 8,000 protesters in Paris, including 1,500 "ultra-violent" demonstrators who looted several shops on the luxurious Avenue des Champs-Élysées and organized clashes with the police.

Castaner, denounced the acts of "professionals of destruction and disorder" and asked the police to respond with "the most firm to these inadmissible attacks".

It had been weeks since scenes of looting and clashes like this one had been seen in Paris, recalling those recorded on the Champs-Élysées themselves at the end of November and the beginning of December. and whose images went around the world.

In the videos circulating in the networks, we also see police cars withdrawing in front of the protesters.

The move, which began as a protest against the rise of gasoline and had become a more general claim about the fall of purchasing power, against Macron's policy and for a more direct democracy, seems to be Be exhausted.

According to figures from the Interior Ministry, last week, 28,000 people marched across the country, 10 times less than at the peak of the November protests, while there were 282,000.

Several figures of this apolitical and horizontal movement organized in the social networks invited their supporters to parade in the capital.

"We are looking forward to those from Toulouse, those from Bordeaux, those from Marseille …", said truck driver Eric Drouet, one of the leaders of the "Yellow Vest", who said he "s safe. expect reinforcements from Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland.

Maxime Nicolle, another remarkable member, promised a "memorable" day, "one of the most important weekend since the beginning of this mobilization".

Presented as an "ultimatum" for Macron, this new mobilization comes after a series of debates in France with which the government hoped to channel the anger of the demonstrators and bring out concrete proposals.

In an attempt to avoid unrest, the police set up a large police force.

About 5,000 agents and six armored vehicles of the gendarmerie are deployed in the capital, where other events are also planned, such as the "Walk of the Century" because of the climate.

Source: TN