After a long time, thousands of people took to the streets again in France last Saturday, 12th of September. The state of emergency and police repression, including bans on assembly, did not stop people from taking their anger and demands to the streets and drawing attention to the fact that the state of emergency and economic crisis is hitting people on low incomes in particular and that access to state aid has become even more difficult. The defense of democratic rights was also an item on the demonstrators' agenda.
With many banners the demands for affordable housing and also against the pension reform were made public. The resignation of President Macron was also demanded.Revolutionaries of the Jeunes Révolutionnaires also took part in the protests and distributed their magazine.
The police tried to intimidate the masses with a large contigent and to keep them away from central places with the help of "no-go areas". The people were checked on arrival and some were arrested. However, this only added fuel to the fire and after a short time there were clashes with the police and fights of the masses. The police responded to this with the use of tear gas and blank-firing guns. The masses, for their part, reacted by devastating streets, setting fire to garbage cans and cars. About 200 people are said to have been arrested.
Here is a video of the protests:
