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Paris police arrested more than 200 people during the first yellow vest protest since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in France.
The “Gilets Jaunes” are participating in their first “national day of action” since the protest movement was suspended due to COVID-19. Their last meeting took place on March 14, three days before France went into lockdown.
Agents in riot gear have already fired tear gas at protesters along Avenue de Wagram in the 17th district of Paris, while another march takes place outside the capital’s stock exchange.
Police have banned the demonstrations from spreading to the nearby Champs Elysees after its famous Arc de Triomphe monument was defaced during previous Yellow Vest marches, but crowds are expected to gather there later.
Officers said they had confiscated hammers, screwdrivers, masks and empty Jack Daniels whiskey bottles, making 222 arrests as of 3.45 p.m. local time. A car also caught fire.
Didier Lallement, Prefect of Paris police, has urged protesters “not to break things” and to respect social distancing measures amid France’s uprising coronavirus infection rate.
A car was set on fire during protests in Paris today
The number of new COVID-19 cases in France rose by 9,406 in the 24 hours to Friday, and now totals 363,350, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
The number of deaths also increased by 40 in one day to reach a total of 30,893. France has the seventh highest death rate in the world.
Yellow vests return to the streets of Paris for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic
Other yellow vest protests are taking place in the French cities of Marseille, Nice, Lyon, Lille, Nantes and Strasbourg, among others.
The protest movement began in 2018, with marches that were held for 70 Saturdays in a row before the coronavirus shutdown, for fuel tax increases and other reforms by President Macron’s government.
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