Paris luxury stores looted, burned in ‘yellow vest’ riots
PARIS (AFP) — Rioters looted and torched shops and businesses on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris on Saturday, the 18th weekend of French “yellow vest” protests, characterized by a sharp increase in violence after weeks of dwindling turnout.
French President Emmanuel Macron cut short a skiing trip in the Pyrenees to return to Paris for a crisis meeting, as hooded protesters went on the rampage in Paris, leaving a trail of destruction in the touristic heart of the city.
Macron vowed to take “strong decisions” to prevent further violence, following the emergency talks held at the interior ministry late Saturday.
“There are people today who try by all means...to damage the Republic by breaking, by destroying things at the risk of killing someone,” he said.
“All those who were there were complicit in the havoc spread across the Champs-Elysees,” he added.
The police appeared overrun as protesters swarmed the Champs-Elysees, vandalizing and later setting fire to Fouquet’s brasserie, a favorite hangout of the rich and famous for the past century as well as luxury handbag store Longchamp, a bank, another restaurant and several newsstands.
The rioters also looted several clothing stores and set fire to barricades in scenes reminiscent of the worst yellow-vest riots in Paris in December.
“Like the vast majority of French people, I feel very angry today,” tweeted French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who visited the scene.
“Today’s actions are not the work of protesters, but of looters, arsonists and criminals. No cause justifies this violence,” Philippe added.
In a statement, the national police denounced the “mindless violence, cowardly attacks” and stressed their determination to guarantee public order against “provocateurs and vandals.”