French police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon in battles with “yellow vest” protesters trying to breach security cordons on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Saturday ahead of a third rally against high living costs.
Police said 81 people had been arrested amid concerns that violent far-right and far-left groups were infiltrating the “yellow vests” movement, a spontaneous grassroots rebellion over the struggle of many in France to make ends meet.
For more than two weeks, the “gilets jaunes” (yellow vests) have blocked roads in protests across France, posing one of the largest and most sustained challenges Emmanuel Macron has faced in his 18-month-old presidency.
In Paris, masked and hooded protesters picked up and hurled crowd barriers and other projectiles in running battles with police around the world famous Champs Elysees boulevard.
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(Demonstrators stand at the Arc of Triomphe after writing on a wall of the monument "Yellow vests will triumph")
Three policemen and seven protesters had been injured, spokeswoman Johanna Primevert said.
“The thugs are a minority and have no place in these demonstrations,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told LCI television.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelled a planned speech at a rally for Macron's party to monitor developments in Paris.
Several hundred yellow vests sat down under the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the avenue, singing La Marseillaise, France's national anthem, and chanting, “Macron Resign!” On the facade of the towering 19th-century arch, protesters scrawled in big black letters: “The yellow vests will triumph.” After several hours of skirmishes in the morning, security forces appeared to clear the area around the Arc where rioters and peaceful protesters had mingled, pushing them into adjacent streets.
Along the Champs Elysees, peaceful demonstrators held up a slogan reading, “Macron, stop treating us like idiots!”
(REUTERS)
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