Thousands of yellow vest protesters rallied in several French cities for a tenth consecutive weekend on Saturday, despite a national debate launched this week by President Emmanuel Macron aimed at assuaging their anger. In Paris, several thousand people, many waving placards calling for Macron to resign or condemning police violence, marched peacefully through the Left Bank in freezing temperatures.
“Parisians, rise up!” they chanted, urging residents of the capital to join the movement which has been driven from the start by rural and small town France.
Paris deployed 5,000 police around the capital, notably around government buildings and the ChampsElysees, stage of recent violence. About 80,000 police are fanned out nationwide. Demonstrations also took place in Toulouse, Lyon, Rouen and other cities. Last week, an estimated 80,000 people took part in protests that were markedly less violent than several previous editions, which ended in clashes with police, the torching of cars and shopfronts being smashed.
