About 200 people from the "glowing vests" protest were arrested by security forces in Paris after violating the agreement with the police • Authorities banned demonstrations on Elysee Boulevard
Tear gas and protesters in Paris // Photo: AFP
Police in Paris, the capital of France, today dispersed demonstrations by members of the Yellow Vest movement and arrested more than 200 protesters in several demonstration centers in the city center.
Thousands of protesters gathered in two squares in the French capital after the marches were approved by Paris police.
After the demonstrators slipped from the agreed-upon outline part of a violent confrontation between the demonstrators and the police during which several policemen and dozens of demonstrators were lightly injured.
The protesters were documented as setting fire to vehicles, uprooting garbage cans and guardrails and building barricades along the streets.
Videos posted on social media show police officers brutally beating protesters, some of them, after they fell and did not pose a threat.
Authorities have deliberately banned demonstrations on the Champs Elysees, after in the previous round of demonstrations the iconic avenues of Paris became a scene of riots and clashes.
The “glowing vests” protest began in 2018 after a law passed by French President Emmanuel Macron raised taxes on fuel.
The demonstrations quickly turned from a targeted protest into a real civil uprising involving millions as protesters set up checkpoints and encampments on the country’s main roads and marched through the city streets.
The protest slowly faded throughout 2019 and came to a complete halt following the outbreak of the corona plague in the country.
More than 30,000 people have died from coronary heart disease in France.