PROTESTERS, COPS CLASH A NEW ACROSS FRANCE; 1,700 ARRESTED
A total of 1,723 people were arrested after yellow-vested Frenchmen clashed with riot police in the latest round of protests against President Emmanuel Macron.
Clashes broke out in several cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse, during a fourth weekend of nationwide protests against rising living costs and Macron in general.
Tens of thousands
Some 136,000 people took part on Saturday’s protests, around the same number as on Dec. 1, but a heavy security deployment averted a repeat of last week’s destruction.
Protesters nonetheless set fire to cars, burned barricades and smashed windows across Paris, clad in emblematic safety jackets, as armored vehicles rolled through the streets.
‘Macron resign’
The embattled president—whose name rang out across the Champs-Elysees as protesters shouted “Macron, resign”—is expected to address the demonstrations soon, said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
“The dialogue has begun and it must continue,” Philippe said. “The president will speak and will propose measures that will feed this dialogue.”
Thick plumes of black smoke from fires rose high into the sky as police fired tear gas, while numerous shops and a Starbucks cafe were ransacked.
“The weather is crap and so is this government,” a handful of protesters chanted as light rain began to fall.
It turned to downpours by midevening, scattering many of the remaining demonstrators.
The outbreaks of violence were on a smaller scale than a week earlier, when some 200 cars were torched in the worst rioting in Paris in decades.
Social media probe
Authorities also launched an investigation into social media activity from accounts allegedly drumming up support for the protests, sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
According to the UK’s The Times newspaper, hundreds of online accounts linked to Russia were used to spread disinformation and used pictures of injured protesters from other events to enhance a narrative of brutality by French authorities.
Stoking discontent
The French protests also attracted the attention of US President Donald Trump.
“Very sad day & night in Paris. Maybe it’s time to end the ridiculous and extremely expensive Paris Agreement and return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes?” he tweeted.