Several protests against the vaccine pass project took place this Saturday across France, a few days after President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial statements on the unvaccinated.
The most respectful nod their heads to express their refusal to speak to journalists. The most virulent insult them copiously. This Saturday, they are a handful to demonstrate in Place de Catalogne, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. One of them, disguised as a Gaul, holds up a sign saying: “We fuck the king”.
This former yellow vest did not appreciate the recent words of Emmanuel Macron on his will ” to piss off »The unvaccinated in “ limiting for them, as much as possible, access to social life activities “. Words that he said to assume ” totally ” Friday.
” I am a French citizen and I don’t really like people talking to me like that, explains this protester at the microphone of our special correspondent, Laurence Théault. It’s been three years that I beat the pavement, regularly. It is a power that cannot be accepted in a democracy like ours “.
“Tense”
Several rallies against the vaccine pass were thus organized in the capital. The most important gathered a few thousand people at the call of the Patriots of the pro-Frexit presidential candidate Florian Philippot. They paraded, in the rain, from the Place du Palais Royal to Place Vauban behind the Invalides. The former right-hand man of Marine Le Pen denounced ” the land of tyranny, of segregation, where millions of people are set apart “.
The demonstration looked like a political rally, with several far-right personalities coming to support the demonstrators: via video message, Marine Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, the very conservative Jean-Frédéric Poisson, support of Eric Zemmour, or former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
A police source quoted by AFP described the gathering as ” tense “. Just like the one held on Boulevard de l’Hôpital (in the south-east of Paris), on the initiative of yellow vests, with ” desires of certain radical members to move the demonstration, but this was quickly contained “, According to the same source.
More than 100,000 demonstrators across France
In Lyon, a small crowd of demonstrators of all ages and little masked gathered in a good-natured atmosphere on Place Bellecour, in the city center. Among them are a few yellow vests, tricolor flags and a red one from the CGT. Slogans denouncing “social apartheid” and boos against President Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister punctuated the demonstration.
In the east, 1,250 demonstrators marched in Colmar and 1,900 in Mulhouse, according to the Haut-Rhin prefecture. They were 1,500 in Strasbourg, according to the Bas-Rhin prefecture.
In total, 105,000 people demonstrated across France, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior. A mobilization in sharp rebound compared to the last, December 18, which had gathered 25,500 people. The authorities had counted 121,000 demonstrators against the vaccination and the health pass throughout the country on September 11, and some 237,000 participants on August 7.