Protests by tens of thousands of the „yellow west“ movement have led to repeated clashes with police in several French cities. An AFP reporter reported that demonstrators attacked firefighters with stones and bottles in Paris after the town hall yesterday. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux had to leave his office because of rampaging demonstrators.
President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence in the protests, which involved 50,000 people nationwide. „Once again, the republic has been attacked by extreme violence,“ Macron wrote in the short message service Twitter last night. He called for moderation and return to dialogue. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner also urged the demonstrators to rest. Everyone has a „responsibility“ and must „respect the law,“ he wrote in Twitter.
In Paris, where about 4,000 people took to the streets, there were violent incidents after a peaceful start of the protests in several quarters. On the Boulevard Saint-Germain several scooters, trash cans and a car were lit. A policeman was injured in clashes on a Seine bridge.
