8K Cops, 14 Armored Vehicles, Dozens Arrested in Paris

It's the 5th straight weekend of protests in France
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 15, 2018 7:30 AM CST
Dozens Arrested in 5th Straight Weekend of French Protests
A man protects his shop window on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Friday.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Paris police say 85 people have been detained in Paris on the fifth straight weekend of protests by the "yellow vests" movement, where thousands of people converged in the French capital. Police say of those detained, 46 people have been arrested. No details have been given about why they were taken into custody, the AP reports. Limited scuffles broke out between protesters and police on the sidelines of largely peaceful demonstrations near the city's Champs-Elysees boulevard, with riot police firing small amounts of tear gas to disperse groups of protesters heading down the side streets off the main avenue. About 8,000 police and 14 armored vehicles were deployed in Paris for the demonstration after similar protests in recent weekends turned violent, with protesters smashing and looting stores and setting up burning barricades in the streets.

There was an especially strong police presence outside the central Saint-Lazare train station, where police in riot gear checked bags. More than 20 police vans and a water cannon truck idled nearby. President Emanuel Macron on Friday called for calm during the demonstrations. Saturday marks the fifth straight weekend of demonstrations by the "yellow vest" movement, which takes its name from the fluorescent safety vests French motorists carry in their vehicles. It emerged mid-November as a protest against fuel tax increases and morphed into an expression of rage against the government. (Egypt has banned yellow safety vests, aka "gilets jaunes," due to what's going on in France.)

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