Anti-Macron ‘yellow vests’ lose steam as cold snap bites
DEFIANT “yellow vest” demonstrators took to the streets of Paris and other French cities again yesterday, but the anti-government protests appeared to be losing steam following concessions by Emmanuel Macron and last week’s terrorist attack in Strasbourg.
Riot police fired tear gas and fought with protesters on the Champs-Élysées and elsewhere in the capital, but these were minor incidents compared with the widespread rioting and looting that took place a week ago.
More than 66,000 people took part in demonstrations across the country yesterday, half the number of a week ago, and in Paris 2,200 people participated, far fewer than the 10,000 who turned out last Saturday.
On Place de la République in Paris, a few hundred yellow vests congregated in rain and near-zero temperatures after being pushed out of the Opera district by riot police.
They unfurled a banner with the slogan: “We want a president of the poor”, a jibe at Mr Macron, who many French accuse of being a “president of the rich” who has neglected the smalltown and rural voters who make up the bulk of the yellow vest movement.
Many streets in the city centre were dotted with checkpoints where officers in riot gear checked bags and coats for weapons and helmets. Police said 112 people had been taken into custody in Paris.
The number of deaths linked to the protest rose to seven after Belgian police said a man accidentally crashed his car into a truck that had stalled at a yellow vest roadblock on the FrancoBelgian border on Friday evening.