More than 10,000 people wearing red scarves on Sunday marched through Paris in protest at “yellow vest” violence during anti-government demonstrations that have drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets over the past 11 weeks.
Since November last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has offered concessions and talks in attempts to quell the weekly rallies that often end in violent clashes with police in the biggest challenge yet to his government.
In the rival protest, the crowds marched through the rain from Place de la Nation to the Bastille monument, some chanting “Yes to democracy, no to revolution” as they waved French and EU flags.
Dubbed the “red scarf” movement, the centrist initiative is the brainchild of an engineer from Toulouse who was horrified by the violence seen among more extremist “yellow vest” demonstrators.
Many protesters joining the rally said that they were not against “yellow vest” demands for greater help for France’s poor, but were sick of the clashes and destruction that have marked protests for 11 consecutive Saturdays since mid-November.
Laurent Soulie, an organizer of the march, said that the protesters responded to a call to the “silent majority who have remained holed up at home for 10 weeks.”
A nursing manager who gave her name as Marie-Line said that she believed the “yellow vests” had just cause to “grumble,” but she came “to say that this verbal and physical violence must stop.”
“It’s not a protest against the yellow vests — it’s a protest to say: ‘You’ve made your demands, we are listening to them,’” French Senator Francois Patriat of Republic on the Move told reporters at the protest.
“There are other places to discuss this than the street. You cannot block the country and economy because you consider the president to be illegitimate,” Patriat said.
The protest was almost double the size of the “yellow vest” demonstration in Paris on Saturday, when about 4,000 people came out to rail against Macron.
The numbers of “yellow vests” have ebbed over the past few weeks, after Macron announced a series of policy climbdowns and launched a two-month national consultation.
Saturday’s protest in Paris saw a prominent “yellow vest” activist, Jerome Rodrigues, badly injured.
Both Rodrigues and his lawyer, Philippe de Veulle, said that he was hit in the eye by a police rubber bullet, an anti-riot weapon that has become highly controversial in France.
“He is in shock. He will be handicapped for life. It is a tragedy for him and his family,” de Veulle told TV station BFM.
Rodrigues, a construction worker, was placed in an artificial coma overnight after the incident, which happened at the Bastille monument. The 40-year-old, who has 50,000 followers on Facebook, was live-streaming the protest on the Web site when he was hit.
De Veulle said that Rodrigues was struck in the eye with a “flashball,” referring to the 40mm rubber projectiles used by French riot police.
French Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez on Sunday told TV station LCI that there was “no evidence” to show that Rodrigues was hit by a police rubber projectile.
The devices — which are not used in most European countries — have been blamed for dozens of serious injuries at “yellow vest” protests, leading to calls to ban them for good.
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