Paris under siege amid violent protests
THE rumble of armoured police vans and the hiss of tear gas filled central Paris as French riot police fought to contain thousands of yellow-vested protesters last night.
Demonstrators vented their anger against the government in a movement that has grown more violent by the week.
A ring of steel surrounded the president’s Elysee Palace – a key destination for the protesters – as police stationed vans and reinforced metal barriers throughout the area.
Groups of vandals tore steadily through some of the city’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, smashing and burning items.
Police and protesters also clashed in the southern French cities of Marseille and Toulouse.
The government’s plan was to prevent a repeat of the rioting on December 2 that damaged the Arc de Triomphe and injured 130 people.
Although Saturday’s protest in the French capital started out quietly, by early evening nearly 1,000 people had been taken into custody and 135 people had been injured.
Some stores along the ChampsElysees boarded up their windows as though bracing for a hurricane but the storm struck anyway, this time at the height of the holiday shopping season.
Protesters ripped off the plywood protecting the windows and threw flares and other projectiles as they were repeatedly repelled by tear gas and water cannon.
All of the city’s top tourist attractions, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum, shut down for the day, fearing the kind of damage that had hit the Arc de Triomphe.
Underground stations in the city centre also closed and the US embassy warned its citizens to avoid all protest areas.
Amid the melee, President Emmanuel Macron remained silent, as he has for the four weeks of protest.
It started as a movement against a fuel tax hike and metamorphosed into a rebellion against high taxes, eroding living standards and what many see as his inability to address the concerns of France’s regions and ordinary people.
Before the clashes, interior minister Christophe Castaner had urged calm.
“I ask the yellow vests that want to bring about a peaceful message to not go with the hooligans,” he said.
“We know that the hooligans are only strong because they hide behind the yellow vests, which hampers the security forces.”
An even larger environmental march moved peacefully yesterday toward the city’s distant Republique Plaza.
One sign read: “No climate justice without fiscal and social justice.”
The march came in support of UN climate talks taking place in Poland.
National police estimated the number of protesters in Paris at 8,000, although the yellow vests said their numbers were far higher.
Associated Press reporters saw city streets densely crowded with thousands of people.
French authorities deployed 8,000 security officers in the capital alone.