French PM plans new security measures after Champs Elysees rioting

[webfact]

French PM plans new security measures after Champs Elysees rioting

By Leigh Thomas

 

A burning newsagent's shop is seen during a demonstration by the "yellow vests" movement in Paris, France, March 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

 

PARIS (Reuters) - France's prime minister will present plans on Monday to crack down on rioters, his office said, after a new flare-up of violence linked to the yellow vest protest movement.

 

Rioters ransacked stores and restaurants while lighting fires along Paris' Champs Elysees avenue on Saturday as they clashed with police.

 

Cutting short a weekend ski trip, President Emmanuel Macron returned to Paris late on Saturday for a crisis meeting with ministers at which he ordered decisions to be taken rapidly "so this doesn't happen again".

 

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's office said the latest violence showed current security arrangements were "insufficient".

 

"Drawing conclusions from these shortcomings, the prime minister will present the president tomorrow with measures necessary to adapt the security forces stance so they can act with firmness at any time," it said in a statement.

 

Cleaners swept up broken glass, while shop owners boarded up smashed windows on Sunday after the worst unrest in central Paris since violence peaked before Christmas in a weekly series of protests.

 

Vandals left hardly a storefront or cafe unscathed on Saturday, breaking windows and looting luxury stores as they clashed with riot police.

 

BUILDINGS TORCHED

Rioters also set fire to an upmarket handbag store and badly damaged Fouquet's restaurant before setting fire to the famous brasserie's canvas awning.

 

Two newstands were burnt to their metallic frames and in a nearby street a bank branch was set on fire, badly damaging the building and apartments above it.

 

"I'm not a tourist but if I were, I would be quite surprised if I arrived in Paris to find the Champs Elysees in such condition," a pensioner who only gave his name as Serge told Reuters TV.

 

"People often talk about the 'City of Lights', the 'Fashion Capital' and all that, but all you can see is destruction, rubbish, protests, burnt kiosks," he added.

 

Police estimated that 10,000 people joined the latest yellow vest protest in Paris and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said a hard-core of about 1,500 was intent on causing trouble.

 

"We've got to be able to stop these people, I don't know how, but that's what we've asked the prime minister," Jean-Noel Rheinhardt, who heads a committee representing businesses on the Champs Elysees, told BFM TV.

 

The yellow vest movement emerged in November originally to oppose now abandoned fuel tax hikes and the high cost of living.

 

The protests quickly spiralled into a broader movement against Macron, his pro-business reforms and elitism in general.

 

The demonstrations, held every Saturday in Paris and other cities, have been generally getting smaller since December, when Paris saw some of the worst vandalism and looting in decades.

 

After the spike in violence, Macron offered a package of concessions worth more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) aimed at boosting the incomes of the poorest workers and pensioners.

 

(Additional reporting by Michele Sani and Jean-Baptiste Vey; Editing by Keith Weir and Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-18

[DoctorG]

"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread. Since brioche was a luxury bread enriched with butter and eggs, the quotation would reflect the princess's disregard for the peasants, or her poor understanding of their situation. While the phrase is commonly attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette, there is no record of her having said it.

Wikipedia.

 

Insert "Macron" for "Princess".

[toenail]

To destroy buildings or loot them is not protesting. This aggression does nothing to find a solution for the country. 

[Burma Bill]

Why doesn't "Emperor Macron" just RESIGN!

[Lucius verus]

The Champs Elysées is one of the most expensive shop front rental strips in the world.

Properties owned of course by the richest families in Europe.

The yellow vests arent targeting the tennant's they're targeting the super rich landowners.

The illuminati may be starting to get itchy necks.

[sirocco]

post 4, hello

 

Why, because he's doing acute narcissism.
He looks at himself in the mirrors of the Elysee and he sees himself the youngest, the most beautiful, the most intelligent on earth.
Only, it's just a little shit who likes to talk about him, that we MUST worship.
It would be necessary that the people overthrow the government which plays it the "puppets of the info"
As for yellow vests, the vast majority is peaceful.
Unfortunately, there is the scum, the riflemen, the same who, at this moment, in Algeria, insult France but who profit well from France.

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, Lucius verus said:

The Champs Elysées is one of the most expensive shop front rental strips in the world.

Properties owned of course by the richest families in Europe.

The yellow vests arent targeting the tennant's they're targeting the super rich landowners.

The illuminati may be starting to get itchy necks.

I hope you're right, but doubt it.

 

It seems more likely that a small minority of the protesters are more interested in looting etc. than protesting.

[sirocco]

EXACT.
Although there are, unfortunately, "real yellow vests" that want to take advantage of the windfall.
They are not all "white-white"
But for these scoundrels, no excuse.
This does not benefit the real yellow vests