Saturday, April 20, 2019

FRANCE YELLOW VESTS WEEK 23:  PROTESTS CONTINUE NATIONWIDE, CONFRONTATION IN PARIS, REAL YELLOW VESTS CARRY ON



The statistics are beginning to come out from the government about Week 23 of the Yellow Vests with 27,900 nationwide and 9000 in Paris protesting by their count.    Its a count that's always lower than the Yellow Vests number.   31,000 the government put out last week with the Yellow Vests estimating just over 91,000 then.

THE YELLOW VESTS ESTIMATE OF PROTESTERS NATIONWIDE TODAY 101,125.

The holiday weekend not appearing to dim the numbers on the streets very much. 

Paris was designated as a center of protest this week with an "Ultimatum 2" to President Emmanuel Macron.

The latest police stats for Paris as of around 830 pm local time 249 arrests and 21,070 "preventive checks" of people during the day.

President Macron ended up not making his planned speech last Monday to roll out responses to public concerns in the aftermath of his "Grand Debate" town hall meetings across France in recent months.   His cancellation came in conjunction with the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire.

A media figure of the Yellow Vests movement Jerome Rodrigues, who was injured in the eye by a police flash bang round in a previous protest, has been speaking about how President Macron is manipulating events to his advantage, delaying his speech to this coming Thursday to manipulate events to his advantage and tweak his words.

This triggering anger from supporters of Macron.

The Place de la Republique in Paris ended up being a scene of confrontation during the protest in Paris today with projectiles and insults hurled at police by black uniformed "black blocs" anarchists who again infiltrated the rank of the protesters.

The police advanced into the protesters firing tear gas and flash bang rounds from their guns.

Protests across the country with motorcyclist Yellow Vests leading the procession of thousands of protesters in Toulouse.   Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters at the end.   Here is video...TOULOUSE YELLOW VESTS TEAR GAS WEEK 23

Plenty of protests nonviolent and peaceful around the country like in Normandy at Caen where there was a ban on protests in the city center.   Video link.....YELLOW VESTS CAEN WEEK 23 4/20/2019

Another typical Yellow Vests protest in the Normandy region was the occupation of a toll booth on a highway operated by a private company allowing motorists to use the highway for free.....YELLOW VESTS ALENCON WEEK 23 4/20/2019

And here is another peaceful gathering of Yellow Vests in Grenoble.....YELLOW VESTS WEEK 23 GRENOBLE 4/20/2019

Yellow Vests also marched through the streets of Lille......LILLE YELLOW VESTS WEEK 23 4/20/2019

In spite of a protest ban in the city center Yellow Vests demonstrated in Rouen today....YELLOW VESTS WEEK 23 ROUEN

Here is a 10 minute video documenting the Yellow Vests protest in Bordeaux today that involved some 1500 people according to the media and you can see the police response as well......GILETS JAUNES (YELLOW VESTS) BORDEAUX ACTE 23

This is fourth part of video from today's Yellow Vests protest in Montpellier.......YELLOW VESTS MONTPELLIER WEEK 23

The Yellow Vests protest movement's origins are in the shifting of governmental costs onto lower income people in France through "green taxes" on gasoline and making highway ownership private resulting in more toll roads across the country.

Yellow Vests also calling for an RIC (Citizens Referendum Initiative) to gather signatures to force the National Assembly to change laws and put them to the people for votes in referendums.

Getting back to Paris, a report that a firefighter was among those arrested today.  He was among a group of the "black blocs" carrying a "firefighters bag" according to police who said it contained  fireworks, smoke devices and other ingredients to make molotov cocktails,

That some story coming days after President Macron announced medals for the hundreds of firefighters who fought the blaze at Notre-Dame.

The arrested firefighter charged with "participating in a demonstration and holding and transporting incendiary products".

Another story in the French media in recent weeks have been suicide cases involving police whose hours have been stretched out with flat rate payments far below the actual value of the hundreds of hours of overtime they have accumulated.

Today some protesters from the "black blocs" at the Place de la Republique shouted "suicide, suicide, suicide" at the police.

This triggered an indignant response from both government and opposition politicians.

Among those reacting was the leading opposition politician in France Marine Le Pen of the National Rally who said:

"The hatred of the police is ideological and alas systematic in the ranks of the anarchists"





So far this year in France there have 29 documented cases of suicide among the police.

(THIS POST WAS UPDATED WITH REACTION TO THE SUICIDE CHANTS OF ANARCHIST PROTESTERS IN PARIS TODAY AIMED AT POLICE)

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