PARIS, Sept 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – French police arrested 137 individuals in Paris by 16:00 local time (1400 GMT), as “Yellow Vest” protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s fiscal policy hit streets again, on Saturday.
Citing the Paris police department, BFMTV news channel said, 48 of the 137 individuals detained remained under police custody.
They were suspected of committing violent acts, in the fringe of the fresh rally. Police found in their bags materials that could be used as projectiles, including stones, slings and hammers, the report added.
French authorities have banned rallies in the land-marked Champs Elysees Avenue, and the Arc de Triomphe monument, which often became flash-point of clashes between the police and protesters.
Some 30 metro stations were closed and many shops were barricaded.
In Paris, 7,500 police officers have been poured in and armoured vehicles were deployed to handle more threats of rioting that, according to the government, risks to taint the social movement’s 45th weekend of action, which coincided with a march for the climate and union-led demonstration against the pension reform.
After a relatively calm debut, a brief standoff erupted early Saturday morning, when anti-riot police fired tear gas to prevent some demonstrators from cruising to adjacent streets.
Violence flared up after 1,000 anarchists, known as Black Blocs, infiltrated a march for climate.
More standoffs were reported as police officers, pelted with projectiles, fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.
“Yellow Vest” movement, which got its name from the high-visibility vests drivers required to have in their cars, was created on social media Nov last year, to protest against a rise in carbon tax, which Macron said was necessary to combat climate change.
It has since turned into a bigger uprising denouncing the president’s fiscal and economic policy, which protesters say favours the rich. Some of them asked Macron to step down.– NNN-AGENCIES