The demonstrators arrived in small groups at 10 o'clock, shortly after the opening, before overflowing the guards who let them pass without opposition.

Hundreds of protesters, including members of the ecologist movement Extinction Rebellion (XR), sat quietly Saturday morning in Italy 2, shopping center of 130 shops and restaurants in the southeast of Paris, preventing the entry of customers. They said they wanted to occupy a "symbol of capitalism" as a prelude to a week of international XR actions.

The demonstrators arrived in small groups at 10 o'clock, shortly after the opening, before overflowing the guards who let them pass without opposition. They then blocked the accesses and hoisted a banner on the main canopy proclaiming "Destroy the palaces of power, let us build the houses of the people". "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 ".

Yellow vests present

"I am with XR to say stop to this crazy system before it destroyed everything", said to AFP a girl of about twenty years, who presents herself as Lucie and did not mean his age. In addition to XR, various groups are also present, such as Youth for climate, Brain Not Available, Radio Action, Committee autonomy queer 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, is particularly present.

"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. After passing a police patrol around 10:30, several vans law enforcement (police and gendarmerie) took position around the center shortly after 11am.

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