Fires, looting and clashes with the Police: a war scenario in the middle of the electoral campaign in France

It was a war scenein a cloud of tear gas, grenades and furniture destroyed by vandals, which continued for hours. But the Police were never able to evict the Black Blocs from the Plaza de la República. There are at least 272 detainees. A grenade mutilated the hand of a young man, who is in serious condition in St Etienne.

The students, their parents, the unions and the politicians in Paris marched calmly and ended their peaceful demands in a festive atmosphere, the Place de Clichy. Jean Luc Melenchon led the march. The CGT maintains that 500,000 people participated in the demonstration. There were peaceful student marches throughout the countryprotesting against the destruction of the educational structure, the absenteeism of teachers, the lack of bathrooms and the impossibility of taking demanding exams at the university with that training.

But the brutal minority violence discredits student mobilization. This escalation worries the government, when violent people attack the symbols of the republic and rob businesses in big cities, hooded.

The objective is to attack the centers of power. “Several unauthorized marches are trying to converge towards the centers of power in Paris. Law enforcement systematically intervenes to prevent these movements and secure institutional premises,” reports the Police. They have settled in the Place de la Concorde and want to advance on the National Assembly, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies.

An SFR office, which sells cell phones on Place de la République in Paris, was completely robbed and people’s cell phones were thrown out.

Two town halls, in addition to daycare centers, were destroyed and stolen in Marseille and Lille. The image of Marianne, symbol of the republic in France, broken in the town hall of Marseille shows the tenor of those who steal.

An unprecedented, anti-republican violence, which should worry the government because it is the first time that the Yellow Vests have returned to the streets to protest. In Bordeaux the prefect’s residence was vandalized and robbed.

The Lyon tourist officea building historical and heritagewas also destroyed and burned by the Black Blocs and the “casseurs”. Firefighters could not get close to fighting the fire.

The environmentalist deputy Sandrine Rousseau was trapped in a police cordon in the Place de la République, in Paris. He expressed his indignation and denounced a disproportionate use of force.

“What I have experienced in Paris I have never experienced before. I have participated in demonstrations since I was a child and I have never seen anything like what is happening,” she explained.

“The question is: what is this strategy of maintaining order? I have spoken with police officers who, in turn, were extremely nervous and very uncomfortable with what was happening. Scenes unacceptable in a democracy have occurred, within the framework of a demonstration demanding a dignified life. In my opinion, In Paris we have touched the limit of what the Republic can tolerate“said the deputy.

The parliamentarian addressed the Minister of the Interior: “I ask the agents to calm down. Let Laurent Nuñez calm down his police officers.”

The CRS 8, specialized in maintaining order, has been urgently deployed in the Châtelet area, in the capital.

The Blacks Blocs and the “casseurs” attack not only the police but the firefighters, who come to put out the fires. A boutique selling Kawasaki motorcycles was broken into, robbed and set on fire by protesters. Desperate inhabitants of the upper floors screamed for the arrival of the firefighters, but the Black Blocs did not let them arrive.

The Police were never able to evict the Black Blocs from the Plaza de la República. The same images of destruction and theft were repeated in other parts of Paris, in unauthorized processions.

They advanced on the Faubourg St Honoré, near the Elysée Palace and the American embassy. But at 5 in the afternoon they arrived at the Champs-Élysées, which were flooded with tear gas to evacuate them.

The most beautiful avenue in the world had its windows covered with wood for fear of robberies and its sidewalks covered with police. More than twenty police motorcycles, with one person as the driver and another who watched in the back seat, sought to make the protesters retreat with tear gas.

Los touristsConfused, they tried to find out what was happening and They fled from the avenue. About 400 protesters chanted against the Police, supported by drums, in an unauthorized demonstration.

The main cities of France seemed to be at war this October 17. Paris, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon, St Etienne were scenes of combat and in all of them there were the Black Blocs, well organized. A young man lost his hand to a mutilation grenade in St Etienne. Its use was authorized today by the Minister of the Interior, Nuñez.

The police wonder if this scenario of violence, robbery, and coordinated fires is not part of the “hybrid war” organized by the clashes.

But it has become clear that Never in France have there been these war scenes in the street and the security scheme to control the demonstrations was a total and risky failure. The Police have never faced a situation similar to this.

The mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire (PS), “firmly” condemned the “damage” and “acts of vandalism” observed on Saturday in the capital, despite the fact that “the vast majority of protesters” wanted to “demonstrate calmly.”

“These acts of vandalism divert attention from the demands of high school students,” present in the street alongside university students, “yellow vests” and various activists, “and harm the image of their mobilization,” declared the mayor. “But I also want to say, with the same firmness: no mobilization should serve as a pretext to exercise violence against protesters,” he added.

These scenes of violence and widespread robbery in the main cities of France are going to horrify politicians and voters in France, in the middle of the election campaignand will surely strengthen Marine Le Pen and her National Rally.