PARIS (AP) – French yellow vest protesters set small fires as they marched through Paris on Saturday to drive home their latest message to the government: that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn’t the only problem the nation needs to solve.
Police repeatedly fired tear gas on stone-throwing protesters on the margins of the largely peaceful march, one of several actions around Paris and other French cities. They’re marking the 23rd straight weekend of yellow vest action against wealth inequality and President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership.
PARIS, FRANCE – APRIL 20: Yellow vest demonstrators gather in the Bercy neighborhood to protest for a 23rd week on April 20, 2019 in Paris, France. Over One Billion Euros has been raised by French businesses and ordinary worshippers towards the cost of renovating Notre Dame Cathedral, devastated by fire on Monday night. Trade Unions and key Gilets Jaunes spokespeople say the amount donated by big French businesses highlights the complacency of those in power towards low-income workers in poverty. The Gilets Jaunes will be banned from approaching Notre Dame. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Worshippers attend the Way of the Cross ceremony during the Good Friday as part of the Holy Week celebrations, near Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 19, 2019, four days after a fire engulfed the 850-year-old gothic masterpiece, destroying the roof and causing the steeple to collapse. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images
Security was extra-high in Paris as authorities braced for resurgent yellow vest anger. The Paris police headquarters said authorities detained 126 people by early afternoon and carried out spot checks of more than 11,000 people trying to enter the capital for Saturday’s protests.
3 p.m.
A car, motorbikes and multiple barricades are ablaze in eastern Paris as a yellow vest protest has degenerated into scattered violence.
Paris firefighters are battling multiple small but impressive fires Saturday around the Place de la Republique. The smell of tear gas mixed with black smoke choking the air.
Associated Press reporters saw a car and motorbikes on fire and multiple volleys of tear gas and dispersion grenades, as riot police worked to control the crowd. Several protesters also set flares.
PARIS, FRANCE – APRIL 20: Yellow vest demonstrators light a fire as they gather in the Bercy neighborhood to protest for a 23rd week on April 20, 2019 in Paris, France. Over One Billion Euros has been raised by French businesses and ordinary worshippers towards the cost of renovating Notre Dame Cathedral, devastated by fire on Monday night. Trade Unions and key Gilets Jaunes spokespeople say the amount donated by big French businesses highlights the complacency of those in power towards low-income workers in poverty. The Gilets Jaunes will be banned from approaching Notre Dame. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – APRIL 20: A yellow vest/Gilets Jaunes demonstrator stands in front of a fire as they gather in the Bercy neighborhood to protest for a 23rd week on April 20, 2019 in Paris, France. Over One Billion Euros has been raised by French businesses and ordinary worshippers towards the cost of renovating Notre Dame Cathedral, devastated by fire on Monday night. Trade Unions and key Gilets Jaunes spokespeople say the amount donated by big French businesses highlights the complacency of those in power towards low-income workers in poverty. The Gilets Jaunes will be banned from approaching Notre Dame. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
French television showed images of volunteer medics treating a yellow-vested protester lying on the ground.
While that neighborhood was tense, overall Saturday’s yellow vest actions have been peaceful. Many protesters are frustrated that the international effort to help fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral has eclipsed the five-month-old yellow vest movement against wealth inequality.
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2 p.m.
Protesters have set small fires and police have fired tear gas on the sidelines of yellow vest demonstrations in the French capital.
The Paris police headquarters said authorities detained 126 people by early afternoon and carried out spot checks of more than 11,000 people trying to enter the capital for Saturday’s protests.
Police fired tear gas amid tensions at a march of several thousand people from France’s Finance Ministry toward the Place de la Republique plaza in eastern Paris. Barricades were set ablaze at one spot, and branches set on fire elsewhere. Firefighters quickly responded to extinguish the flames.
The march was one of several actions around Paris and other French cities Saturday.
The protesters are angry at high taxes and economic injustice, and are largely peaceful. Some are also frustrated that the effort to save fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral is eclipsing the yellow vest movement’s demands.
PARIS, FRANCE – APRIL 20: Riot police monitor yellow vest demonstrators in the Bercy neighborhood as they protest for a 23rd week on April 20, 2019 in Paris, France. Over One Billion Euros has been raised by French businesses and ordinary worshippers towards the cost of renovating Notre Dame Cathedral, devastated by fire on Monday night. Trade Unions and key Gilets Jaunes spokespeople say the amount donated by big French businesses highlights the complacency of those in power towards low-income workers in poverty. The Gilets Jaunes will be banned from approaching Notre Dame. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – APRIL 20: Yellow vest demonstrators set motorbikes on fire as they protest for a 23rd week on April 20, 2019 in Paris, France. Over One Billion Euros has been raised by French businesses and ordinary worshippers towards the cost of renovating Notre Dame Cathedral, devastated by fire on Monday night. Trade Unions and key Gilets Jaunes spokespeople say the amount donated by big French businesses highlights the complacency of those in power towards low-income workers in poverty. The Gilets Jaunes will be banned from approaching Notre Dame. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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10:15 a.m.
French yellow vest protesters are marching anew to remind the government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn’t the only problem the nation needs to solve.
Multiple protest events are planned around Paris and other cities Saturday for the 23rd weekend of the yellow vest movement against wealth inequality and President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership.
One group wants to march on the presidential palace despite bigger-than-usual police presence. Another is aimed at showing yellow vest mourning over the Notre Dame blaze while also keeping up pressure on Macron.
Many protesters were deeply saddened by the fire at a national monument. But many are angry at the $1 billion in Notre Dame donations that poured in from tycoons while their own demands remain largely unmet and they struggle to make ends meet.
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