Fuel feeds Paris fire
French capital ignites as protesters target Champs Elysees
THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters clashed with French police on the Champs Elysees in Paris yesterday, leaving the area cloaked in tear gas and smoke from fires on a day of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron.
Demonstrators wearing the yellow, high-visibility vests that symbolise their movement threw projectiles at police, preventing them from moving along the famed shopping avenue, which was decked out in twinkling Christmas lights. They also built barricades in some spots, and tore down traffic lights and street signs.
Police arrested 130 people, 42 of those in Paris, and 24 people were injured, five of them police officers.
Elsewhere, protesters took over highway toll booths to let traffic pass free, or held go- slow vehicle processions, underlining one of their core complaints of escalating taxes on car fuel, especially diesel.
Mr Macron, targeted by protesters’ calls that he re- sign, thanked police and said “shame’’ on those who assaulted or intimidated citizens, journalists and politicians, adding: “There is no place for violence in the (French) Republic.”
The riotous scenes were on a smaller scale than a week ago when the “yellow vest” movement staged its first nationwide protest.
“We’re not here to beat up cops. We came because we want the Government to hear us,” said protest spokeswoman Laetitia Dewalle, 37, adding the largely spontaneous movement denounced “violence by pseudo-protesters” on the fringes.
“We have just demonstrat- ed peacefully, and we were teargassed,” said Christophe, 49, who travelled from the Isere region in eastern France with his wife to protest in the capital.
The interior ministry counted 106,000 protesters across France yesterday – far fewer than the national tally of 282,000 in the November 17 protests.
The Government blamed the protests on far-right politician Marine Le Pen, claiming she egged them on. But Ms Le Pen said she had “never called for any violence whatsoever” and accused the Government of “organising the tension” and seeking to make her a scapegoat.