Posted on 01/19/2019 6:49:56 PM PST by Nextrush
A record crowd of 10-thousand protesters in Toulouse, France today as the Yellow Vests protests continued. Protesters focusing on violence against them committed by police with their tear gas and flash ball rounds causing well over one thousand injuries in the last two months or so of protest.
"Castaner the butcher, mutilated France"
was the shout from the crowd in Toulouse calling out the name of Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.
In Bourg-en-Bresse, France the police officers carrying weapons firing flashballs were quipped with cameras.
The official national estimate from the government is 84-thousand, which is exactly the number it reported last week. The Yellow Vests are setting up their own system of accounting crowds.
Predominately peaceful demonstrations across the country with only 42 arrests in Paris.
Police resorting to attacking the protesters at the Invalides in Paris late in the day with water cannon and tear gas. The Invalides, site of Napoleon's tomb, is where the protest march started and ended in Paris.
The Associated Press reported demonstrators throwing projectiles at the end of today's Paris protest and knocking down a traffic light.
Seven thousand protesters claimed by Paris by the authorities, with four thousand reported in Bordeaux.
Other cities cited as protest locations include:
Toulon Nancy Rennes Montpellier Angers Nantes Dijon Tours
Protesters at Dijon went to the prison to demand release of other protesters arrested in previous protests.
For French President Emmanuel Macron hopes that his "debate" meetings would draw crowds this weekend away from street protests appear to have come up short.
More protests including women's Yellow Vests protests set for tomorrow.
Personally, I hope they succeed in destroying Marcron’s administration. I understand that the cops are using live ammo now and they have shot a demonstrator in the head.
I ran across this today. Yes, a blog (and not mine), but an interesting read.
https://quodverum.com/2018/12/344/france-understanding-the-gilets-jaunes-uprising.html
The man shot in the head was with a flash ball. They are supposed to aim low when they shoot them, but there are reports that some are purposely aiming up at head level. I watched the live feeds for hours today. In Paris, it was peaceful and quiet, huge crowds just walking along, until they got the the Les Invalides area and suddenly there were police vehicles blocking the way for no apparent reason. There was a lot of tense back and forth with some cobbles thrown, water cannons, a few people being dragged off by the police, and one car destroyed, but it was for the most part restrained. At least 2 yellow vests injured, they were all pushed back towards a large park and then eventually quietly dispersed. I feel like there will be a tipping point somewhere, either the crowds will overrun the police, which will be ugly and with fatalities for sure, or the police will join in and let them pass. There is definitely a small element of “antifa” types involved, but for the most part it looked like blue-collar, middle & high-lower class typical folk to me.
My wife was in France a number of years ago on an art tour. The truckers were on strike at the time and they were blockading motorway interchanges to enforce their demands ( most likely government overtaxation). The funny thing was when the tour bus showed up, they stopped it, got on, sung a couple of French songs, then got off and allowed it to pass through.
We shall see. The elections for the European Parliament will be a barometer of things in May sure enough.
What makes this presentation unique?
What makes this presentation worthwhile?
What do I get here that I can’t get elsewhere, with sources?
I think the Yellow Vests have to become an actual political movement, and make it their means of protest, or the non-protesting once sympathetic average citizens are going to tire of the mayhem that fails to actually move the political class to any real sustainable achievement.
Cool story - I’m not a fan of blocking the roads but sometimes people are just desperate for recognition, and the main-stream press certainly isn’t giving much coverage to what’s been going on in France.
I did notice yesterday (in Paris) that there seemed to be a loose leadership at the front of the yellow vests who were keeping people calmed down & following directions and also some with red crosses on white shirts who were dealing with injuries. Also noticed a policeman raise his baton to hit a protester and one of the other cops stepped in and signaled no, hold up. At one point the cops and the protesters were mere inches apart and they were bantering back and forth, not in anger, just talking.
The car that I saw get trashed was by maybe half-dozen young guys, mostly in black gear, they were also the same ones throwing the cobblestones. Also got a lovely treat of seeing a full-moon display from one of them, not a purdy sight!
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