• France: yellow vest and black bloc protests, marching for climate, 152 detentions
  • Saturday of protests in Paris, over 100 stopped. Lacrimogeni at the Saint-Lazare station

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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea 21 September 2019At the end of the day, 167 people were arrested after the violence, the barricades and the urban guerrilla scenes that transformed the face of Paris.

The police used tear gas on the Champs Elysées while barricades were erected at Place d'Italie.

Eric Drouet, the historic leader of the yellow vest protest, was also arrested along with the other protesters.

The extremists of the 'black block' have managed to infiltrate the climate march organized by Greenpeace and which saw over 15 thousand participants present but the organizers were forced to stop the procession because "there are no longer the conditions for a peaceful march" they said.

The French capital faced a difficult day with three events at the same time: the march for the climate, as a continuation of the great world event on Friday; the protest of the unions against the pension reform and the return of the yellow vests with the intention of reviving the protest movement.

The alert on a possible 'Black Saturday' in Paris led the Prefecture to deploy over 7,500 men between gendarmes and agents, in addition to the military.

In the morning on the Champs-Elysées the 45th manifestation of the yellow vests should have been held: the intention was to enter some government buildings open for the day dedicated to the French historical-cultural heritage but only one hundred people showed up at the event , without vests to "show that we are French and nothing else". Some tried to gather in the forbidden area, but the police dispersed them easily.

In the afternoon, around 15,000 people took part in the climate march, which was also attended by mayor Anne Hidalgo: however, the procession was ruined by the arrival of men with their faces covered and mixed up with the protesters causing clashes with the police who used tear gas. According to the Prefecture, over 1,000 'radical' protesters have managed to infiltrate, between 'ultra-gauche', 'ultra-yellows' and a few hundred black bloc. Also in the afternoon at Boulevard Saint-Michel, in the Latin quarter, masked militants launched bullets against the Police before attacking a bank branch, setting fire to bins and scooters. The agents responded by firing tear gas. The marches to defend the climate took place throughout France: according to the organizers, around 150,000 protesters throughout the country.