Sunday morning follow-up: here's what's actually happening in France (from an American in Paris)
Around 125,000 people participated across France in the gilet jaune protests. This is less than the previous weeks, probably in large part due to the media’s projections of the protests becoming violent. Around 10,000 protested in Paris. France mobilized 89,000 police officers and gendarmes, with 8,000 deployed in Paris. In addition to the police officers, a dozen armored vehicles (blindés) were also deployed in Paris. This is the first time armored vehicles have been deployed in Paris.Many stores, museums, and restaurants were closed around Paris. Notable closures included the department stores Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, and Le Bon Marche. The popular French concept shop Merci also shuttered its doors for the day, along with shops like Zara, Lacoste, and other larger retail chains. Smaller shops, including jewelry stores, also closed due to the “exceptional circumstances”. Many stores and restaurants boarded up their windows and events around Paris were cancelled. Starting at 5:30am on Saturday, the Paris metro began skipping service at certain hot-zone stations.
In general, the protests in Paris were viewed as significantly less violent than last week’s. The police and firemen acted quickly in extinguishing vehicles on fire (is it a French protest if a car isn’t on fire?) and corralled protestors into smaller zones. Protests took place around the Right Bank, with seemingly larger concentrations in the 8th and 17th arrondissements this time.
There was also a previously scheduled Climate March in 120 cities across France. Some of the routes were planned to coincide and join with the gilets jaunes, examples being Lyon and Bordeaux.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to suppress protests, including using the blindés to roll over and extinguish smaller fires. Along with that, the number of people arrested in France on Saturday ranges from 900-1700. Reports state that 135 people were injured across France, including rumors of one woman who lost an eye and a man whose hand was blown off.
A lot of the anger is directed at the now-seemingly invisible President Macron. While his government held meetings on Friday in the Prime Minister’s residency (Matignon), he has yet to address the public directly. He tweeted on Saturday thanking the armed forces, “À toutes les forces de l’ordre mobilisées aujourd’hui, merci pour le courage et l’exceptionnel professionnalisme dont vous avez fait preuve.” (To all the armed forces who mobilized today, thank you for the courage and the exceptional professionalism you showed.) The media rumors are that Macron will finally address the people on Monday.
While Paris went relatively unscathed this Saturday, Bordeaux bore a larger part of the movement’s anger. Banks and a post office were destroyed, an Apple Store was looted, and several fires in the streets were set in the evening hours.
One problem facing the gilet jaune movement is that, because virtually everyone in France has a high-visibility vest, many “casseurs” (literal translation is “breaker) have co-opted the movement and taken advantage of the situation to loot and vandalize stores across Paris and France. While the group attempted to self-police, the casseurs have caused a lot of problems for the movement. Because of this, according to the latest Facebook group posts I have found, the protest will move to block railways, ports, airports, and refineries instead of manifestations. Gas stations across France are still facing shortages.
It’s now increasingly obvious that this isn’t a protest just about the fuel tax. The French are frustrated that the cost-of-living has skyrocketed while their salaries are being eaten away by their already incredibly high taxes (46.2% OECD tax-to-GDP ratio, the highest across the studied countries). Because the gilet jaune protests aren’t “far-right” or “far-left” leaning, it’s difficult to sum up the demands of the group. The general consensus is that the people of France need to be heard within their government. There is a growing dissatisfaction in the government leaders who don’t appear to be of the people, having attended a handful of the same prestigious schools and lacking the insight into the day-to-day lives of the French people. There are continued calls for Macron to step down and the National Assembly to be abolished. Earlier in the week, I found this image on one of the many Facebook groups I'm following that lists some of the demands by one of the groups. However, it is very important to note that because this is an amorphous group with no official leader, no official list of demands has been presented.
TLDR: The French continue to be pissed at the government. The protests this week are viewed as less violent due to a coordinated police and gendarmerie response with 89,000 officers involved.