Protesters clash with police in Paris
Protests over fuel costs reflect anger toward elites
• The scenes from Paris have been terrifying as protesters marched down the Champselysees, hurling projectiles at police and being teargassed in return in the worst violence to hit the capital in 50 years.
Paris police said Sunday that 133 people had been injured and 412 arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the capital during a demonstration Saturday against rising taxes and the high cost of living.
Charred cars, broken windows and downed fences littered many of the city’s most popular tourist areas on Sunday, including major avenues near the Arc de Triomphe, streets around the Champs-elysees, and the Tuileries garden. Graffiti was sprayed on many stores and buildings.
Activists wearing yellow jackets had torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores, threw rocks at police and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multicolored graffiti. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons, closing down dozens of streets and Metro stations as they tried to contain the riot.
Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said Saturday’s violence was due to extremists who hijacked the protest, people who came “to loot, break and hit police forces.”
But in spite of the destruction in the capital, it is in smaller French towns and cities like Besançon, nestled in the foothills near the Swiss border, where the anger is most deeply felt.
People here are dependent on their cars, so they are especially frustrated with rising diesel prices and a new gasoline tax — the issue at the core of the national “yellow vest” movement that has produced marches and roadblocks throughout France in recent weeks.