Paris in lockdown as protests rage
Police fire tear gas to quell demonstrators as prized monuments are closed
PARIS: Crowds of yellow-vested protesters angry at President Emmanuel Macron and France’s high taxes tried to converge on the presidential palace, some scuffling with police firing tear gas, amid exceptional security measures aimed at preventing a repeat of last week’s rioting.
Blue armoured vehicles beneath the Arc de Triomphe and rows of helmeted, thickly protected riot police yesterday blocked the demonstrators’ passage down the Champs-Elysees avenue toward the heart of presidential power.
A ring of steel surrounded the Elysee Palace itself as police stationed trucks and reinforced steel barriers in streets throughout the entire neighbourhood.
Prized Paris monuments and normally bustling shopping meccas were locked down at the height of the holiday shopping season. The Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum were among tourist attractions that remained closed, fearing damage after rioting and looting last Saturday that saw 130 people injured.
The grassroots movement began as resistance against a rise in taxes for diesel and gasoline, but quickly expanded to encompass frustration at stagnant incomes, the growing cost of living and other grievances. Macron agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, but that hasn’t defused the anger, embodied by the fluorescent safety vests that French motorists are required to keep in their cars.
While scattered scuffles broke out Saturday around central Paris, the action seemed less violent overall at midday than at the same time a week ago, when crowds defaced the Arc de Triomphe, one of the city’s most revered monuments, and rampaged in the surrounding high-end neighbourhood.
After two weekends of violence in Paris that made the authorities look powerless to secure their capital, police went into overdrive yes- terday to keep a lid on unrest.
Police frisked people or searched bags every hundred meters or so throughout central Paris, and confiscated gas masks and protective goggles from Associated Press journalists.
Protesters who came to Paris from Normandy described seeing officers block yellow-vested passengers from boarding at stops along their route.
The national gendarme service posted a video on Twitter of police tackling a protester and confiscating his dangerous material, which appeared to be primarily a tennis racket.
Macron’s government had warned that the yellow vest protests had created a “monster” and that the Paris actions would be hijacked by radicalised and rebellious crowds and become the most dangerous yet after three weeks of demonstrations.
Demonstrators waving French flags and wearing the movement’s signature neon vests gathered before dawn yesterday near the Arc de Triomphe, then tried to march down the Champs-Elysees toward the presidential palace. Blocked by police, they tried other routes. Protesters threw flares and other projectiles, and were repeatedly pushed back by tear gas.
Groups in yellow vests also gathered near the iconic Bastille plaza and a few other spots around Paris. The city subway system was shut down in the cenre of town.
By midday, more than 500 had been detained in Paris, according to a Paris police spokeswoman. No injuries have been reported.