Prized Paris monuments and normally bustling shopping meccas have been locked down and tens of thousands of police are taking position around France, fearing worsening violence in a new
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December 8 2018 8:31 AM
Prized Paris monuments and normally bustling shopping meccas have been locked down and tens of thousands of police are taking position around France, fearing worsening violence in a new round of anti-government protests.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has warned that Saturday’s “yellow vest” protests in the capital will be hijacked by “radicalised and rebellious” crowds and become the most dangerous yet after three weeks of demonstrations.
The Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum shut down along with hundreds of stores and businesses, fearing damage after rioting and looting last Saturday that saw 130 people injured and the worst urban unrest in Paris in decades.
A few dozen demonstrators wearing the movement’s signature high-visibility vests gathered before dawn near the Arc de Triomphe, which was damaged in last week’s rioting.
Others lined up for police searches and bag checks at Porte Maillot, a major entryway to western Paris and the famed Champs-Elysees. Police installed special reinforced barricades in the upmarket streets around the presidential Elysee palace.
Authorities are deploying barricade-busting armoured vehicles and 8,000 police in the capital alone. Nationwide, 89,000 security forces fanned out to deter or confront troublemakers expected at multiple protests.
The grassroots movement began as resistance against a rise in taxes for diesel and petrol, but quickly expanded to encompass frustration at stagnant incomes and the growing cost of living.
Mr Macron agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, but that has not defused the anger, embodied by the fluorescent safety vests French motorists are required to keep in their cars.
