BREAKING NEWS:  MACRON REGIME IN FRANCE PULLS OUT STOPS TO STOP 'YELLOW VESTS', WILL IT WORK?

(THE LATEST INFORMATION WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST WITH OCCASIONAL UPDATES UNTIL 830 AM)

(SPECIAL UPDATE:  34 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN PLACED IN 'PREVENTIVE CUSTODY' BY FRENCH POLICE THIS MORNING BECAUSE THEY CARRIED ITEMS IN THEIR BAGS CONSIDERED THREATENING)

The tactics resemble those used in 2016 in Oregon during the Oregon Standoff protest led by Ammon Bundy.   Spread fear of "extremism" and "violence", target people for harrassment or arrest and put people into the protest who claim to support it but who are there to disrupt it.

And of course, militarize the police and create a "Red Dawn" occupation atmosphere.   To underscore that armored vehicles are on the streets of Paris on Saturday.

While the culture of protest is different in France, the tactics of the government are the same.

On French television Friday night, the Prefect of Police in Paris said powerful stun grenades will continue to be used that have injured protesters in previous demonstrations.

The "yellow vests" are launching Phase 4 of their protest Saturday morning.

Overnight, sensitive police information was disclosed on the internet about their plans to deal with protesters today.   The information was about plans to use mobile units to put down the protests.
The public prosecutor is investigating.


(330AM UPDATE, 930 AM IN PARIS)

The "yellow vests" made it onto the streets in the center of Paris but police mobile units are active with 32 now said to be in "preventive custody"

The police are stopping and searching people on the streets and at railroad stations.

343 arrests have been made in addition to those taken into "preventive custody"

By this time last Saturday, only six arrests had been made so the police are wasting no time cracking down on the protesters.

BFM-TV  is saying '

"The strategy of the security forces has clearly changed this weekend"

The French Interior Minster Christophe Castaner visited with police this morning.   President Macron, who has been mum and silent all week, paid a visit to police in Paris yesterday.

The protesters are confronting police directly on the Champs Elysees.

And the police have begun to push the protesters back in some cases, then they seem to back off into defensive formations.

There are no-go areas where protesters are not being allowed.

(515AM UPDATE, 1115 AM IN PARIS)

The latest detention figures in Paris are 492 arrested and 211 are being held with 34 others put into "protective custody" for having items considered dangerous when stopped and searched by the mobile units of the police.

Tear gas has been employed along the Champs Elysees for the first time today, later in the day than last Saturday.  It was launched around 430am Eastern US, 1030am in Paris.

BFM-TV HAS JUST SHOWN A PROTEST IN THE WEST OF FRANCE IN THE HAUTE-LOIRE REGION WITH SANTA CLAUS RIDING IN THE SCOOP OF A TRACTOR LEADING A MARCH OF 'YELLOW VESTS'\

Back in Paris protesters with protective equipment that police are seizing in the central areas have blocked a ring road around the edge of the city,

More tear gas was just fired at around 520 am in the Champs Elysees and another barrage just after 530 am here in the eastern US, 1130 am in Paris.

BUT THE TEAR GAS BEING EMPLOYED TODAY IS SAID TO BE A STRONGER MIX WITH PHOSGENE  BELIVED BEING USED.

HERE IS LINK TO CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL ON PHOSGENE....CDC PHOSGENE

BBC reporting suggests that government warnings about "ultra-violent" protests may have thinne out today's protest crowds in Paris.

The BBC reports that 5-thousand protesters made it to the Champs Elysees but were stopped at a police cordon.

(725 AM UPDATE, 125 PM IN PARIS)

The latest arrest totals over 700 across France with 554 arrested in Paris and 335 being kept in custody there.  In the city of Grenoble, south of Paris, a yellow vest leader was among 15 arrested there.   BFM-TV reports tensions are running high in that city.

A yellow vests protest was held in Brussels, Belgium around the European Union buildings with 70 arrests reported there.

Some protesters in Belgium blocked highways on and around the French border.

(830 AM UPDATE, 230 PM IN PARIS)

The report earlier from the BBC about it being believed that phosgene gas, a World War I battlefield gas, was used on the protesters today dropped from later versions of the protest story, but it was published for a while starting at around 5am Eastern this morning.

President Trump tweeted this morning in part regarding the climate change taxes fueling the protest movement:

The Paris Agreement isn't working out so well for Paris"

He also tweeted that people are chanting among the protesters "We Want Trump".

Early estimates from French police are of 31-thousand protesters nationwide and 8-thousand in Paris.

Those numbers are usually revised upwards in later estimates.    Last week's estimate was of 126-thousand protesters nationwide.

That is all for now...this ends the breaking news blog.

Links below.....


BFM-TV LIVE VIDEO LINK

BFM-TV GOOGLE TRANSLATE TEXT

(CLOSED DOWN AT 830 AM, CAN USE LINKS FOR MORE NEWS)