Paris (AFP)

A day of occupation followed by a tense confrontation with the police: several hundred environmental activists were still installed Saturday evening in a Paris shopping center on the first day of a week of action of the movement Extinction Rebellion (XR).

Saturday around 10:00, hundreds of demonstrators, including members of XR had invested the place in the quiet, choosing Italy 2, with its 130 shops and restaurants southeast of Paris, as a "symbol of capitalism".

Ten hours later, at the closure of the complex, of which only part was occupied, the authorities ordered them to leave, according to activists inside, determined to spend the night there.

According to images broadcast live on social networks, the police, using tear gas, then tried to enter the building, some entrances were barricaded with tables or chairs.

Some activists sat holding umbrellas open above their heads, like pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

"We resisted, we created a human chain, we were all tied up and seated, not violent, and the security forces gassed us," told AFP Benjamin, a 20-year-old activist.

The intervention was then interrupted, and the mobile gendarmes returned to the surrounding area before the vast majority of them left.

"It's door-open at night in Italy 2. People come in and out," said another participant. "It's pretty amazing, so we stay."

At 23:00, a few hundred activists were still in the mall or on the forecourt. They even installed dry toilets and an improvised urinal.

Arrived at the end of the morning, they explained wanting to occupy a "symbol of capitalism", as a prelude to a week of international actions of XR, a movement that advocates civil disobedience and non-violence to force governments to declare the urgency climate.

Equipped with harnesses, they hoisted on the large glass roof of the entrance several banners proclaiming, "Let us destroy the palaces of power, let us build the houses of the people" and "Nature is not for sale, social and popular ecology".

- "Crazy system" -

"Work, consume and shut your mouth", "A-ha anti-capitalist", could we hear especially among the slogans of protesters, the sound of drums, or "And one and two and three degrees is a crime against humanity ".

"I am with XR to say stop to this crazy system before it destroyed everything," said a young girl in her twenties, who introduces herself as Lucie.

In addition to XR, various collectives had joined the action, such as Youth for Climate, Brain Not Available, Radiaction, Queer Independence Committee and "yellow vests", according to a representative of XR who does not want to be identified. Jérôme Rodrigues, one of the figures of the movement of "yellow vests" made an appearance.

"This blocking is done in convergence with other associations and movements, in this emblematic place of consumption that destroys the living," said XR in a statement, claiming "about 1,000 people" on the spot.

The operation, dubbed "Last occupation before the end of the world", takes place while Extinction Rebellion, a movement created barely a year ago, organizes from Monday actions in 60 cities around the world that should gather thousands of people, including blocking actions in London, planned to last more than two weeks.

In June, while occupying the Sully bridge in Paris, members of XR had been dislodged by the police, including the use of tear gas at close range. The images, widely shared and criticized on social networks, led to the opening of an investigation.

© 2019 AFP