Twenty-one people were arrested Saturday, after a day of national gathering of "yellow vests" in Montpellier, which brought together 1,600 people at the height of the demonstration, according to the prefecture of Hérault. Four police officers were injured, she added.
On Saturday morning, the mobilization started with four preventive arrests of people "equipped with prohibited materials during the demonstrations", before about 700 demonstrators converged on the Place de la Comédie, in the city center, with signs "1st citizen duty : control politics and politicians ", or" Retirement with points, endless work ".
500 “Black blocks”
The climate warmed up in the middle of the day, when around 500 “Black blocks”, coming from Toulouse, Lyon and the Paris region, joined the procession. They tagged and degraded showcases of emblematic signs: a McDonald's restaurant, an SFR boutique and a Crédit Mutuel agency. A trash fire was started at a tram stop. Some demonstrators then threw cobblestones and stones in the direction of the police.
"The situation was difficult to manage, with ultras that had the objective of confronting us," said Commander Philippe Plégat, at the departmental directorate of public security in Hérault. Tear gas was launched around 1:30 p.m. by the police to disperse the demonstrators. In the middle of the afternoon, the CRS sealed off Place de la Comédie and used water cannons.
The Human Rights League deplored at the end of this day "cases of violence on Street Medics" and assured that it has "images in the course of exploitation of two injured detainees". In this tense context, which lasted several hours, many businesses in the city center closed their doors and tram traffic was interrupted.
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- Languedoc-Roussillon
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