Paris Riots Cops Fire Tear Gas At Yellow Vest Protesters
French President Emmanuel Macron has asked for an evaluation of possible protest security measures, a day after a Paris protest against increased taxes and living costs devolved into France’s worst urban riot in a decade.
Hours after he flew back to the French capital from the G-20 summit in Argentina, Macron held an emergency meeting at the Elysee presidential palace while crews worked to remove charred cars, broken glass and graffiti from the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue and other top Paris sites.
Paris police said 412 people were arrested and 133 people were injured, including 23 police officers, as crowds trashed the streets of the capital on Saturday.
Officers fired tear gas and used water cannon to tamp down the violence as protesters torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with spray paint.
Macron assessed the damage at the Arc de Triomphe, the massive monument to France’s war dead at the top of the famous Champs Elysees avenue, where rioters scrawled graffiti and ransacked the ticketing and reception areas.
The president also saw the wreckage of burnt-out cars and debris from rioting at other sites, where he praised the police but was also booed by sections of the crowd.
Anti-government protesters torched dozens of cars and set fire to storefronts during daylong clashes with riot police across central Paris at the weekend, as thousands took part in fresh “yellow vest” protests against high fuel taxes.
Smoke engulfed several shopping districts as the violence spread from the Arc de Triomphe, where crowds had gathered earlier hoping to march down the Champs-Elysees.
While several dozens were allowed into the avenue after an ID check and search, many others - some wearing gas masks or ski goggles - remained behind and fought police manning barricades and water cannons....
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