Year's 1st yellow vest event in France brings tear gas, fires
French "yellow vests" marched through Paris and other cities on Saturday in protest against high living costs and the perceived indifference of President Emmanuel Macron, whose government this week hardened its stance against them. Officers fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of demonstrators crossing the river and reaching the National Assembly. One riverboat restaurant was set ablaze and a policeman wounded when he was struck by a bicycle hurled from a street above the riverbank.
- World
- AP
- Published Date: 12:00 | 05 January 2019
- Modified Date: 11:11 | 05 January 2019
Video on French TV showed a man repeatedly stomping on an officer in riot gear on the ground and hitting the shield of another officer.
Some confrontations took place in other cities around France, with tear gas fired in Bordeaux and in Rouen in Normandy.
Protesters were looking to breathe new life into the yellow vest movement, named after the fluorescent protective gear French motorists must keep in their cars. The protests were launched in anger over fuel tax hikes, but have swelled with broader anger over Macron's economic policies, deemed to favor the rich.
On Saturday, protesters reiterated a call for Macron to resign.
"Resolution 2019: Demacronize," read one sign. "Power to the people," read another.
Government spokesman Griveaux had said on Friday that those who show up to protest "want insurrection" as the movement appears to wane and radicalize.
He called on the French people to express their views during an upcoming "national debate" rather than by taking to the streets.