48 hours after a new national day of mobilization before the call of the unions on Thursday, March 23, against the pension reform, thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday night throughout the country. According to the prefectures, there were at least 5,000 in Grenoble, 900 in Lille, 3,500 in Paris, 1,200 in Rennes, 4,100 in Nantes (10,000 according to the unions), but also 300 at Le Mans.
In most of these towns, the processions passed peacefully, although new incidents were reported. As on Monday night, police violence and violent charges by CRS were also reported, as well as obstruction of the press.
In the capital, police made 27 arrests, according to a police source. Some protesters, particularly in Paris, threw projectiles at the police.
damage and violence
In Lille, while delivering a highly anticipated masterclass at the Series Mania festival, actress Marcia Cross was evacuated and her time on the red carpet was cut short. Protesters against the pension reform interrupted the passage of the actress around 8:30 p.m. this Tuesday.
Dozens of CRS intervened on the red carpet and tensions escalated rapidly. In Nantes, the first tear gas was fired shortly after the start of the torchlight procession by the police, reports AFP.
Damage has also been done, including looted businesses and labels like “49.3 will not pass” or “Macron only understands the riot.” Clashes broke out between police and “thugs” in Grenoble, local media reported in the evening.
actions all day
Earlier in the day, actions against the pension reform were organized across the country. In Lyon or Toulouse, protesters blocked traffic on several roads. In Brittany, road traffic was disrupted on Tuesday by several blockades, in particular on the Rennes and Nantes ring roads, in Laval, Vannes and Brest.
Free toll at Moselle: about sixty protesters took the Saint-Avold tollbooth on the A4 to erect the barriers. In Yvelines, fifteen Enedis vehicles slowed down traffic on the RN10 in the direction of the province of Paris, AFP stressed.
This Tuesday incidents also broke out in front of the Fos-sur-Mer oil deposit, near Marseille, where the authorities carried out the first searches of personnel on strike against the reform.
In the context of these new demonstrations, Emmanuel Macron estimated in the afternoon that it was necessary to “appease” and “listen to the anger” of the French after the disputed approval of the text by Parliament… while ensuring that the crowd did not it has “no legitimacy” against “the people who express themselves through their elected representatives.”
The President of the Republic will speak this Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. in an interview broadcast on BFMTV, on the eve of the day of national mobilization initiated by the unions.
Source: BFM TV
