KURT ZINDULKA French police have squared off with thousands of protesters attempting to establish a Canadian-style convoy in Paris in response to the draconian coronavirus measures that Emmanuel Macron’s government has imposed upon the country.
A little over a month after President Macron infamously announced that he wanted to “piss off” the unvaccinated people in France by introducing full-on vaccine passports in the country, over 3,000 vehicles have attempted to enter Paris to demand an end to the Covid regime.
t is not clear at the time of writing how many vehicles of them actually made it into the city, as police were sending many cars away throughout the day.
Ahead of the demonstration, Mr Macron called on Friday for “calm”, saying: “We are all collectively tired of what we have been experiencing for two years and sometimes this fatigue also translates into anger. I hear and respect her. But I call for the greatest calm.”
At the time of this reporting, five people have been arrested for carrying slingshots and police have used tear gas and used tractors and tow trucks to remove vehicles from the Champs-Elysées area.
La tension ne retombe pas sur les #ChampsElysees après plusieurs heures d’incidents. #convoisdelaliberte pic.twitter.com/5uTsMPNjhC
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) February 12, 2022
Police were also seen using their batons on protesters, in footage shared on social media by street photographer Clément Lanot.
PARIS – Interpellation sur les #ChampsElysees : tensions toujours en cours. #ConvoidelaLiberte @CLPRESSFR pic.twitter.com/Moh5QZhyYl
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) February 12, 2022
The Prefecture of Paris police force said that 7,200 officers were deployed in the city to prevent the convoy from embedding itself. Police were seen smashing the windows of supposed demonstrators in order to remove them from their cars.
Un agent de police a brisé la vitre d’un manifestant du #ConvoidelaLiberte qui a refusé de libérer la circulation #ChampsElysees #convoisdelaliberte pic.twitter.com/4iqMb2lqkk
— Jérémy Paoloni (@JeremyPaoloni) February 12, 2022
An organizer of the convoy told the Le Figaro newspaper: “Maybe some people want to put on masks and get injected because it reassures them. But I refuse not to be given the right to enter certain places because I don’t want to be injected because I didn’t want to play the great Covid board game.”
Commenting on the protest, right-wing populist presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said: “Energy prices keep rising. No government response. The vaccination pass is useless and yet it does not remove this device that violates individual freedoms.
“I understand the annoyance of the French.”
PARIS – Les incidents se poursuivent toujours à 18H et ceux depuis plusieurs heures sur les #ChampsElysées #convoisdelaliberte
Pourtant 7200 policiers et gendarmes avaient été mobilisé pour éviter des tensions. pic.twitter.com/FC5oU2kK1L
— Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) February 12, 2022