Members of the so-called "freedom convoys", who demonstrate against vaccines and restrictions to stop covid,

have managed to access the Champs-Élysées in Paris

, despite the police deployment to prevent it.

Gathering in various French cities throughout the week and inspired by the trucker convoys that succeeded in blocking Ottawa, the protesters were looking for a coup de force and none better than gaining access to the Champs-Élysées, the emblematic center of the French capital that it already served as the scene a few years ago for the concentrations of the so-called "yellow vests".

Many of them were part of this new wave of protests that point directly to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, whom they reproach for his measures to ensure that the entire population is vaccinated.

In the target of his anger, the so-called vaccination pass, which requires being immunized to access most public places.

The demonstrators managed to circumvent the police controls and the device put in place by the Prefecture, 7,200 agents, a number similar to that deployed during the hardest days of the "yellow vests".

The cars of the demonstrators, in many cases adorned with banners and flags, managed to access the central avenue of the capital and take their protest next to the Arc de Triomphe.

Unlike the "yellow vests", the protest has so far been peaceful, with no clashes with the forces of order or degradation of shops or street furniture.

The police charged on several occasions to disperse them, since the Prefecture had not authorized these demonstrations.

The situation has also been tense in the Plaza de Italia, where there were clashes between protesters and security forces.

The Prefecture assured that some 337 people have been fined for participating in an unauthorized demonstration and recalled that the penalty amounts to 135 euros.

The "freedom convoys" formed in various cities of the country throughout the week and have been gaining elements on their way to the capital.

About 500 vehicles, including cars and caravans, managed to access the city center.

In an open letter addressed to Macron and the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, they ask that they be given back "the freedom that for two years has been deprived (of us) due to exceptional circumstances that no longer exist."

In addition, they demand that vaccination be abandoned and that independent pharmacological research be created on its effects.

They also demand that the health workers fired for refusing to be vaccinated return to their posts and that all workers who have suffered consequences for not doing so be compensated.

Macron is closely following this new protest movement that is taking place two months before the first round of the presidential elections for which, although he has not yet officially declared himself a candidate, he leads all the polls.

The French president took advantage of an interview last night with the local press to ask for calm and said he understood the citizens' fatigue due to the restrictions linked to covid.

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  • Coronavirus

  • Paris

  • France

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • yellow vests

  • covid 19

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