Respite in Paris as fewer protesters take to the streets
FRANCE’S YELLOW vest protesters, who have brought chaos to Paris for weeks with their economic demands, turned out in sharply reduced numbers yesterday at the start of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Still, some violent incidents in the French capital marred the end of a largely peaceful day.
The number of protesters on the French capital’s elegant Champs-Elysées Avenue was down sharply. Paris police said only 2,000 protesters took to the streets, compared to 4,000 a week before and 10,000 the prior week. Police arrested 142 people and detained 19, compared to the several hundred arrested two weeks ago when the protests turned violent.
Tensions arose at nightfall when protesters gathered on the Champs-Elysées and police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse some demonstrators. A video circulating on social media showed three police on motorcycles surrounded and attacked by protesters. At some point, one of the policemen appeared to pull his weapon out on charging protesters.
Paris police told The Associated Press that the officer pulled out it to deter the assailants but did not use his weapon.
Earlier in the day, in stark contrast to the last few weekends, tourists strolled down the avenue near the Arc de Triomphe monument, holiday shoppers were out in force and the grandest of Parisian boulevards remained open for traffic.