President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Saturday that rioters who clashed with police under the Arc de Triomphe, set fire to vehicles and looted shops would face justice after Paris was rocked by further protests from the Yellow Jackets movement.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators from the amorphous movement against gasoline price hikes, named for the fluorescent yellow jackets worn by protesters. The protests, which erupted across France three weeks ago, caught Macron off guard and have triggered violent clashes with police and widespread disruption.
Under the Arc de Triomphe, protesters threw rocks and broke down barriers as clouds of tear gas swirled around them. In other parts of the city, vehicles were set on fire and shops were looted.
More than 260 people were detained and at least 95 were injured, including 14 members of the security forces, franceinfo reported. Smaller demonstrations took place in other parts of France.
“What happened today in Paris has nothing to do with the peaceful expression of legitimate anger. There is no reason that justifies security forces being attacked, businesses looted, public or private buildings set on fire, bystanders or journalists threatened, or the Arc de Triomphe defiled in this way,” Macron said at a G20 summit in Buenos Aires.
“The perpetrators of this violence do not want change, they don’t want any improvement, they want chaos. They betray the causes they claim to serve, and which they manipulate. They will be identified and held accountable for their actions before the courts,” Macron told reporters. “I will always respect protest, I will always listen to opponents, but I will never accept violence.”
Up to 5,000 security personnel were drafted in this weekend after cafes and shop fronts were vandalized and barricades set alight during previous protests.
Although Saturday’s demonstration was not due to start until the afternoon, clashes between protesters and police began in the morning. TV footage showed protesters surging at security barricades and fires burning in the streets.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Twitter in the morning that around 200 peaceful protesters had gathered on the Champs-Elysées while 1,500 “disrupters” had massed outside the security perimeter formed by police and were trying to break through. “Our security forces are responding and pushing back the thugs,” he said.
By the afternoon, a total of 75,000 people across France were believed to have taken part in Saturday’s protests, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Onlookers described scenes of chaos, not only in the center of Paris but also in several other districts.
Street furniture was set alight and police vehicles were attacked with metal street barricades. There were scenes of rarely seen violence, said Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, franceinfo reported.
Geoffroy Boulard, mayor of the city’s 17th district, said security measures were not sufficient. In a Twitter post showing burning debris in the street, he said there were “unacceptable and sadly predictable” scenes of chaos, adding that he had asked police for a wider security perimeter.
A total of 282,000 people protested on November 17, the first day of national demonstrations, while the number fell to 106,000 a week later, according to official figures reported by Libération.
Hans von der Burchard contributed reporting from Buenos Aires.