From RT.
Yellow Vest demonstrators aren’t letting a ban on mass
gatherings or fears of coronavirus stop them from expressing their opposition
to the French government, and are staging their weekly protests in Paris.
France’s Interior Minister Christophe
Castaner on Friday banned all gatherings of more than 100 people but hundreds
of demonstrators are continuing the weekly Yellow Vest vigil and are
protesting at Paris landmarks.
Thousands of French security forces
personnel hit the streets of the capital in a bid to clamp down on the
movement, which has now been running for 70 consecutive weeks.
Eyewitness footage shows riot police
firing tear gas in a bid to subdue the activists as the protests spiraled
towards violence.
In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, President
Emmanuel Macron announced school closures and urged people to avoid close
contact for fear of spreading the virus, which has killed 79 people in France
and infected more than 3,600.
Before that announcement Paris police had already rejected
requests from protesters to demonstrate at prominent sites in the French
capital.
The demonstration comes just a day before voters are set to go to
the polls in local elections, in which Macron’s party is forecast to fare
poorly.
The French president decided to press ahead with the elections
despite schools and universities being shut and public transport curtailed due
to contagion fears.
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