Yahoo News 'Yellow vest' protests: cars burn and looters raid shops in Paris
1,385 arrests, setting a record for a single day in postwar France
An estimated 125,000 take part in "day of rage"
Protesters vow to man barricades until Christmas
The mounted officers advanced behind serried ranks of police on foot holding up their shields like Roman legionaries. In front of them, on the fashionable Rue de Bretagne in central Paris, were the “yellow-vest” protesters and masked, black-clad youths, sending shoppers and patrons of pavement cafés scurrying indoors for cover.
“No one was expecting trouble in this area,” Françoise Perrin, 43, an observer, told The Sunday Telegraph.
Ms Perrin, one of dozens of terrified Parisians and tourists in the historic Marais district caught between a mob of protesters and riot police on horseback, added: “We were just about to order a drink, then we looked up and saw what looked like a military formation heading towards us. Then we looked the other way, and saw the protesters. We got the fright of our lives.”
The police managed to prevent the mob from looting shops, smashing windows or attacking parked cars, pursuing them through the narrow medieval streets of one of Paris’s oldest and most picturesque quarters.
But other parts of Paris were severely battered by clashes. An estimated 8,000 demonstrators marched through the streets on a “day of rage” as the authority of Emmanuel Macron, the president, was challenged by a fourth consecutive weekend of protests across France.
There were an estimated 125,000 protesters across France, with 1,385 arrests – a record for a single day in postwar France. More than 700 were detained in Paris alone. At least 135 people were injured, including three police officers. The emblematic Parisian avenue, the Champs-Elysées, was shrouded in tear gas and echoed to the sound of stun grenades as police battled a crowd of more than 1,000, who sang the Marseillaise and chanted “Macron resign”.
Police demolished burning barricades with armoured vehicles, deployed for the first time in the heart of Paris. Officers fired repeated salvoes of tear gas and water cannon to drive back and disperse protesters. But they regrouped and moved on, sometimes returning to confront the police minutes later.
Some protesters torched parked cars and ripped up chunks of concrete from the street and hurled them at police, but the majority remained relatively peaceful.
Several banners called for “Frexit now!” Many protesters said they wanted a referendum on an exit from the EU.
Bertrand Deschamps, 33, a building worker from Nantes, in western France, said: “The first thing that brought us into the streets was increases in fuel taxes and the high cost of living, but we believe France needs massive change.
“We’re like the Brits who voted for Brexit, we’re the people who the politicians in Paris have never had to listen to before, but they’re going to have to listen now. If not, it’s revolution.”
Department stores, restaurants and cafés were boarded up or shuttered in the main shopping areas, losing vital Christmas trade. Pitched battles last weekend left shop fronts and café windows smashed on the Champs-Elysées and in nearby areas. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and most other museums and tourist attractions also closed.
Fewer protesters took part than last weekend when more than 10,000 turned out. But this time the demonstrators fanned out across the city after police succeeded in containing and encircling a group of more than 1,000 on the Champs-Elysées.
As night fell, increasing numbers of masked youths appeared on the streets without the high-visibility jackets that have become the symbol of the grassroots rebellion.
Many hurled stones which they brought with them in backpacks. Some tried to loot the Fendi jewellery shop near the Champs-Elysées, while others ripped open the shutters of cafés and tobacconists and grabbed bottles of liquor and cartons of cigarettes.
François, 47, a yellow vest, said: “These people are nothing to do with our movement. We are peaceful. Attacking the police and stealing isn’t what we’re about.”
Moderate figures in the “yellow-vest” movement had urged protesters to stay away from Paris and instead demonstrate in the provinces to avoid being caught up in violence in the capital instigated by thugs, far-Right and far-Left activists.
Benjamin Cauchy, a founder of a group known as the “Free Yellow Vests”, said: “We call on French people not to demonstrate in Paris, it’s a trap. The government is trying to make us look like hooligans … We don’t want to have deaths and injuries on our conscience.”
Mr Cauchy was among a delegation of moderates who held talks with Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, on Friday night. They presented a list of demands, including a 300-euro increase in the minimum wage. Other groups in the movement, which has no centralised leadership, published a series of “official” demands.
They included an exit from the EU and Nato, the re-introduction of a wealth tax, scrapped by Mr Macron, a halving of public spending, huge increases in state pensions, re-nationalisation of privatised companies, building millions of council homes and cancelling France’s debt.
Mr Macron has seen his approval ratings tumble as momentum has gathered in a broad demonstration against his liberal reforms and a growing sense of inequality between “elitist” Paris and rural France.
On Saturday night, after remaining silent in recent days, Mr Macron announced he would address the nation on television on Sunday.
He came to power on the back of a grassroots movement promising to listen to the concerns of ordinary people. Ironically, his popularity has plummeted to an approval rating of 21 per cent, according to some polls, with critics accusing him of arrogance and elitism.
In a televised address, Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, called for more talks to resolve the conflict.
"The dialogue has begun," he said. "It is now necessary to rebuild the national unity."
Protesters in the south-western city of Bordeaux set fire to a barricade and clashes broke out with police. Many petrol stations across France were blockaded, but most of the demonstrations outside Paris were peaceful. Police counted about 31,000 protesters, down from 130,000 the previous Saturday, a possible indication that fatigue may be starting to set in amid concerns about violence.
The clashes were less intense than last weekend, but the scenes of mayhem in Paris may have already undermined Mr Macron’s attempts to entice banks and financial service companies to relocate from London.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, Belgian police fired tear gas and water cannon at yellow-vest protesters calling for the resignation of Charles Michel, the prime minister. The protesters hurled paving stones, road signs and fireworks at police.
There were also demonstrations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam but the Dutch protests were largely peaceful.
Protests fade as night falls
My colleague Roland Oliphant writes:
By 7pm local time protests were petering out, with most protesters heading home.
A heavy police presence remained on the streets, with riot vehicles assembled at the Eglise de la Madeleine and officers patrolling in force.
Donald Trump tweets again
Very sad day & night in Paris. Maybe it’s time to end the ridiculous and extremely expensive Paris Agreement and return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes? The U.S. was way ahead of the curve on that and the only major country where emissions went down last year!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2018
Motorbikes thrown over near the Louvre
My colleague Roland Oliphant writes:
A police helicopter continued to circle over Paris after darkness fell. Large numbers of riot officers remained deployed on the streets near Champs Elysee and the Louvre.
Vandals threw a dozen parked motorbikes onto their sides near place Concorde.
Riot police charge protestors
Dozens of French riot police backed by an armored vehicle are charging protestors on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, firing tear gas beneath the sparkling lights of one of the world's most elegant avenues.
Demonstrators in yellow vests carried a huge banner calling for President Emmanuel Macron to resign and for France to hold an emergency election.
Protestors appeared to throw flares as police responded with tear gas. The confrontation came after a day of tension across Paris on Saturday and unprecedented police efforts to prevent new violence.
Looters on the streets
More from James Rothwell:
Protesters attempted to break into the jewellry shop Fendi near the Camps Elysees but fled after police intervened.
Other jewellry shops had removed all their stock from the windows to deter looters.
Elsewhere looters ripped open the shutters on tobacconists and bars, stealing alcohol and cigarette boxes from inside.
A game of cat and mouse
Our correspondent James Rothwell reports:
Protesters were playing cat and mouse with police on Saturday evening as lumps of concrete and tear gas cannisters flew through the air on the Champs Elysees.
When protesters threw chunks of concrete ripped from the ground, police responded with a volley of tear gas, causing the crowd to retreat.
Shortly after the crowd shifted back towards police and the process started again.
The vast majority of protesters however were not attacking police and instead chanted: "Macron, resign."
French protestors block border with Italy
The police chief of Imperia, a northwestern Italian coastal town on the highway toward France, says yellow-vested French protesters have blocked the border with Italy near the town of Ventimiglia.
The Italian news agency ANSA quoted Police Chief Cesare Capocasa as saying the protest was causing a four mile backup of traffic in both directions on Saturday afternoon.
He was quoted as saying that "we're on the scene to try to manage the situation in a balanced way."
Latest pictures from Paris
Dusk falls over Paris
Our correspondent in Paris, Roland Oliphant, writes:
They have been on the streets since morning, but as dusk falls over Paris there is no sign of the thousands of yellow jackets tiring of their chant “Macron resign.”
On the Champs Elysee, police are firing volleys of tear gas and intermittent stun grenades in a bid to clear the protestors who remain there.
And on surrounding streets, small groups have been looking cafes, banks, and tabacs in search of cigarettes and alcohol. The Telegraph has seen a pair of opportunists stripping number plates from burnt out car.
Most of the demonstrators remain peaceful - milling around central Paris in their yellow jackets united by a deep revulsion for Emmanuel Macron.
Eiffel Tower shut
In addition to the closure of the Eiffel Tower, many shops and museums across Paris, including the Louvre, the Orsay Museum and the Grand Palais, are shut for safety reasons.
Music festivals, operas and other cultural events in the capital were cancelled.
The national Federation of French markets said that Christmas markets have been "strongly impacted" and that its members registered "an average fall of their estimated figures between 30 and 40 percent since the beginning of the yellow vest movement."
"It's with an immense sadness that we'll see our city partially brought to a halt, but your safety is our priority," said Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
"Take care of Paris on Saturday because Paris belongs to all the French people."
"He is not a legitimate leader"
Benoit, 58 from Paris, said: "Macron is a bastard. He is just like all the others [EU leaders] they are taking all the money for themselves. It means three is no money left to buy food or children shoes.
"He is not a legitimate leader, he is a fool."
Why protest?
"We are here for democracy - for 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité'," said Pierre Boarges, a taxi dispatcher from Rouen who had travelled to Paris with two friends to attend the protests.
"It is basically about money. There is no work, people are struggling and Macron does not care about them."
"Macron must go. He's not a democrat - just look at how he is reacting to peaceful protest," he said, as a series of police flash bangs exploded nearby.
Donald Trump responds
The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris. Protests and riots all over France. People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment. Chanting “We Want Trump!” Love France.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2018
March from Bastille
Thousands of protesters and masked youths with rucksacks, possibly full of stones, are marching north from Bastille, writes David Chazan in Paris. Unlike the people at the Champs-Elysees, they probably haven’t been searched by police.
A number of cars, bins burned. Shop windows smashed. Small fires in streets. Avenue Friedland Paris pic.twitter.com/8OZ2tsmVSJ
— James Rothwell (@JamesERothwell) December 8, 2018
