Paris police fire tear gas as anti-restrictions ‘Freedom Convoy’ enters capital
- Cars of protesters got through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe monument and along Champs Elysees Avenue
- Some 7,000 police officers were mobilised for the weekend; they said they stopped 500 vehicles trying to get into Paris on Saturday
French police fired tear gas at demonstrators on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris on Saturday shortly after a “Freedom Convoy” protesting against Covid-19 restrictions made it into the capital.
Cars carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe monument.
Inspired by horn-blaring “Freedom Convoy” demonstrations in Canada, the motorists waved French flags and honked in defiance of a police order not to enter the city.
Police told protesters to move on as some climbed on their cars in the middle of the roundabout at the top of the Champs Elysees
Earlier police said they had stopped 500 vehicles that were trying to get into Paris and nearly 300 tickets were handed out to their occupants by mid-morning, police said.
Less than two months from a presidential election, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is eager to keep protests from spiralling into large-scale demonstrations like the anti-government “Yellow Vest” protests of 2018.
Separately police also said they had arrested five protesters in southern Paris in possession of sling shots, hammers, knives and gas masks.