Paris returns to normal after ‘Yellow Vests’ protest

Bloomberg

The streets of Paris are returning to normal as crews remove debris after protests by a grassroots movement forced police to fire tear gas and water cannons just a week after extremely violent clashes led President Emmanuel Macron’s government to back down on fuel tax increases.
Police arrested 1,700 people nationwide and held 1,200 in custody after containing several late night skirmishes on Saturday. About 179 people were hurt as extreme-right, extreme-left and anarchist elements defied riot forces in Paris, according to the police prefecture. In Paris, at least 920 were arrested with as many as 620 in custody.
“The situation is under control,” Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said at a press conference. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, at the same briefing, again called for dialogue with the so-called Yellow Vests and said Macron would propose new measures this coming week “to restore national unity.”
Museums and shops on the Champs-Elysees were to reopen on Sunday, as well as the Eiffel Tower and iconic department store Galeries Lafayette.
While the tally of arrests was higher than last Saturday, the violence and number of injured didn’t reach the levels of a week ago when national monuments were trashed and cars burned throughout central Paris. Many arrests were carried out early on Saturday as police conducted searches ahead of the protests, seeking to prevent rioting. Tens of thousands of officers were deployed nationwide.
An estimated 138,000 people took part in the protest across France of which 10,000 were in Paris, according to the Interior Ministry.
There were also clashes with police in Bordeaux, which continued into the evening, and in Toulouse along with roadblocks on highways including those near Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and Albertville.
In Paris, protesters were mostly contained to the Champs-Elysees and surrounding avenues, such as avenue Marceau and boulevard de Courcelles, as well as near the Opera district. On boulevard Poissonniere and boulevard Haussmann, some tried to erect barricades, using urban furniture and stones from the pavement, and defying police forces. Rioters looted a golf supply store, making off with clubs they used to smash the windows of bank branches.
By early evening, the Champs-Elysees was mostly cleared of demonstrators and some traffic resumed. A few clashes continued around Place de la Republique, which was largely calm earlier in the day.
The violence appeared to have been caused by a mix of radicalised Yellow Vests, as well as unaffiliated anarchists and youths from Paris suburbs.