Protests roil France once again as 400,000 people took to streets across the country to demonstrate on Saturday. The moment that began last month with student demanding better facilities has now morphed into a broader protest over high cost of licing and social inequality.
In response to the agitation, the French government has mobilised a massive security operation with more than 70,000 police as reported by media outlets. So far 1000 arrests have been made.
Protesters of all ages and backgrounds coursed down a Paris boulevard – students, workers, parents, retirees, and yellow vests, the largely white working-class movement that bedeviled French president Emmanuel Macron in his first term. These left-wing demonstrators held placards calling to tax the rich and for Macron to resign.
Visuals from the steets of Paris featured superheros.
From Black Panther, Captain America to Spiderman, Superman and Deadpool, the visuals coming from the European nation show how people are participating in the agitation, that has been keeping France on the edge for weeks now.
“In Paris, we had a major demonstration that took place peacefully, like most protest marches across the entire country,” Nuñez told reporters.
Nuñez added the police had restricted protesters’ movements: “They were prevented from staging unauthorized roving protests or heading toward city centers.”
Last week, police could not control the mass looting, arson and violence that swept through the country. He reportedly also offered to step down, which was rejected by Macron.
Police used batons on demonstrators, moved towards them to stop them however all in vain.
Specialist SWAT units, helicopters, armored vehicles, police dogs and water cannons were at the ready as part of the operation, after more than half a million people took to the streets last Saturday.