France: +400 Arrested, +130 Injured as Riot Debris Covers Paris Streets

Rasa - Paris police announced on Sunday that 133 people had been injured and 412 had been arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the capital during France's worst urban riot in years.

News ID: 441863

Date: 03 December 2018 - 13:20

RNA - Police stated that 23 police officers were among the injured and 378 of the arrested have been put in police custody, World News reported.

Also, local police reported Sunday that one person was killed overnight in a roadblock organized by the yellow vest protesters in city of Arles in Southern France

A protest against rising taxes and the high cost of living turned into a riot Saturday in the most popular tourist areas of the French capital. The demonstrators say Macron's government does not care about the problems of ordinary people. They torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores, threw rocks at police and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi-colored graffiti. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon, closing down dozens of streets and Metro stations as they tried to contain the riot.

Some of Paris' major avenues near the Arc de Triomphe and streets around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue and the Tuileries garden were littered with piles of debris and burned cars. Graffiti was also sprayed on many storefronts and buildings.

All of the city's police personnel were deployed during the rallies; 4,500 police officers attempted to cope with about 10 thousand protesters in Paris alone. In dozens of other French cities, demonstrators trashed shops and fought with police.

The French authorities haven't ruled out the possibility of introducing a state of emergency in the country in response to unrest organised by anti-government demonstrators in Paris and other cities.

"We have to think about the measures that can be taken so that these incidents don't happen again," Spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told Europe 1 radio.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Arc de Triomphe shortly after his return to Paris on Sunday following the G20 Summit in Argentina to evaluate the scope of the damage in the aftermath of the recent rallies. He was holding an emergency meeting on security later Sunday with his prime minister and interior minister.

Addressing a news conference in Buenos Aires on Saturday, Macron said no cause justified the looting of stores, attacks on the security forces or torching of property. The violence, he added, had nothing to do with the peaceful expression of legitimate grievances.

It was the third straight weekend of clashes in Paris involving people dressed in the yellow vests of a new protest movement and the worst urban violence since at least 2005. The scene in Paris contrasted sharply with demonstrations elsewhere in France on Saturday that were mostly peaceful.

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