Yellow Vest Protesters Return to Streets in France First Time Since Lockdown (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - 'Yellow Vest' protesters flooded the French capital as well as Lyon for the first time after the coronavirus lockdown was lifted, Saturday.
Police took more than 250 people in for questioning and fired tear gas during violent scenes in Paris and Lyon on Saturday, after the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, took to the streets of the capital for the first time since lockdown was lifted in May, CNN reported.
Footage and photos taken in the city Saturday show cars set on fire by protesters and tear gas being used by police to disperse them.
As a result of the demonstrations, at least 256 protesters were taken in for questioning and 90 were also issued warnings, Paris police said at 6:20 p.m. local time (12:20 p.m ET).
As a precaution, businesses on the avenue were told by the authorities to shut for four hours on Saturday morning and were advised to "place means of protection in front of their establishments."
The movement, which takes its name from the yellow high-visibility jackets which French motorists must carry in their vehicles, started in November 2018 in opposition to plans to increase fuel prices, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in demonstration.
In its first year, the movement resulted in a 10 billion euro ($11.05 billion) aid package for the poor and led French President Emmanuel Macron to back down in the face of protest, something he had said he would not do.