Paris protests intensify
French “yellow vest” demonstrators clashed with riot police in Paris yesterday in the latest round of protests against President Emmanuel Macron. But the city appeared to be escaping the large-scale destruction of a week earlier because of heavy security.
Armoured vehicles rolled through central Paris as protesters in their luminous safety jackets threw rocks at police and set fire to barricades.
There were shouts of “Macron resign” and tear gas on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue, and thick plumes of black smoke from fires rose into the sky. Cars were also set alight.
The government had vowed “zero tolerance” for anarchist, far-right or other troublemakers seeking to wreak more havoc at protests that have sparked the deepest crisis of Mr Macron’s presidency.
Police reinforcements were boosted to 8,000 across the city, with armoured vehicles in Paris for the first time.
More than 650 protesters were detained in the capital, many of them stopped as they arrived at train stations or meeting points carrying hammers, petanque balls and other missiles.
Shops along the Champs-Elysees and department stores around the city stayed shut with their windows boarded up to avoid looting.
The Eiffel Tower, major museums and many metro stations were also closed as parts of central Paris went into lockdown.
Yet government calls for people to stay away fell on deaf ears. Denis, 30, a forklift driver, travelled to Paris for the first time yesterday after three weeks at the barricades in the Normandy port of Caen.
“I’m here for my 15-monthold son. I can’t let him live in a country where the poor are exploited,” Denis said.
Yesterday’s protests attracted the attention of US President Donald Trump.
“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France,” Mr Trump tweeted. “People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries, in order to maybe protect the environment.”
The protests are not linked to the climate agreement.
People began block roads on November 17 over rising fuel prices, partly because of taxes aimed at helping France to chance into a greener economy.
Nationwide, 89,000 police were out in force in towns, cities and on motorways, causing havoc on France’s roads.
Police also clashed with protesters in the south-western cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse, although elsewhere, such as in Marseille, the demonstrations were peaceful.
Mr Macron this week gave in to some of the protesters’ demands for measures to help the poor and struggling middle classes, including scrapping a planned increase in fuel taxes and freezing electricity and gas prices next year.
But the “yellow vests”, some of whom who have become increasingly radicalised, are holding out for more.