PARIS (AFP) -- Paris police fired teargas and issued hundreds of fines on Saturday to break up a convoy of vehicles that attempted to block traffic in a protest over COVID restrictions and rising living costs.
Inspired by the truckers that shut down the Canadian capital Ottawa, thousands of demonstrators from across France made their way to Paris in a self-proclaimed “freedom convoy” of cars, trucks and vans.
The police, which had banned the protest, moved quickly to try to clear the cars at entry points to the city, handing out 283 fines for participation in an unauthorized protest.
But over 100 vehicles managed to converge on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue, where police used teargas to disperse protesters in scenes reminiscent of the “yellow vest” anti-government riots of 2018-2019.
The demonstrators oppose the COVID vaccine pass required to access many public venues but some also took aim at rising energy and food prices, issues which ignited the “yellow vest” protests that shook France in late 2018 and early 2019.
Sixty-five-year-old factory worker Jean-Paul Lavigne said he travelled across the country from the southwestern town of Albi to protest fuel, food and electricity price hikes as well as the pressure on people to get vaccinated.
The demonstrations come two months ahead of presidential elections, in which President Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek re-election.
Nearly 7,200 officers equipped with armored vehicles and water cannon were deployed in Paris.
The convoys set out from Nice in the south, Lille and Vimy in the north, Strasbourg in the east and Chateaubourg in the west.
They are demanding the withdrawal of the government’s vaccine pass and more help with their energy bills.
From Paris, some of the protesters plan to travel on to Brussels for a “European convergence” of protesters planned there for Monday.