Black Bloc violence mars Yellow Vest first anniversary protests

One year after the start of the Yellow Vest movement roundabouts across France were peacefully reoccupied in Normandy or Occitania. However, the anniversary was marred by violent demonstrations in Paris, as BlackBloc anarchists tore up paving stones, set up barricades and lit fires on some of the streets of the capital around the Place d'Italie, the Place de la Bastille then, and to a lesser extent, in Châtelet-Les Halles.

Protesters walk past a roadblock during a demonstration to mark the first anniversary of the "yellow vests" movement in Paris, France, November 16, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

.Black Bloc violence

There are also due to be demonstrations later today, Sunday, with groups of Yellow Vests – or Gilets Jaunes – already.

Yellow Vests first anniversary protests in photos

In one incident in Paris, a commemorative plaque at Place d'Italie to Marshal Alphonse Juin in the 13th arrondissement was partially destroyed by metal bars

A close ally of General de Gaulle, Juin (1888-1967) was appointed Marshal after the Second World War, a reward due in particular to his military actions in Tunisia and Italy.

Police at the Place d'Italie in Paris on November 16, 2019, the first anniversary of the Yellow Vest protests. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

According to some observers, the debris from the monument was used as projectiles that were thrown at police.

Clashes also broke out in other French cities as activists rallied to prove their movement is still a force a year after the first giant protest on November 17, 2018, which drew 282,000 people.

Numbers attending the protests and levels of violence have sharply diminished from the height of the movement, which began on the back of frustration Macron was failing to address the needs of ordinary French people.

But Saturday's protests -- which demonstrators called "Act 53" of their weekly gatherings -- marked the first serious clashes for months in central Paris between security forces and demonstrators.

The interior ministry put the number of demonstrators at 28,600 nationwide but the organisers said nearly 40,000 people had rallied.

Tensions focused on the Place d'Italie square in southeast Paris. Police in full riot gear flooded the area in tear gas and used water cannons after demonstrators threw stones, set rubbish bins alight, overturned cars and set them ablaze, AFP correspondents said.

A major shopping centre in the area closed its doors after dozens of protesters threw stones at the windows of a neighbouring hotel. Several demonstrators and a freelance journalist were injured.

Police arrested 147 people across Paris by 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), of whom 129 were in custody.

Earlier in the afternoon, Paris police chief Didier Lallement had banned the Place d'Italie demonstration, condemning the "damage and the systematic attacks against the security forces and the fire brigade".

"It's pathetic that the demonstration was banned," said Catherine Van Puymbroeck, 49. "The state has provoked this anger."

Police also fired tear gas in the Les Halles area, near the famed Pompidou Centre museum, to break up demonstrations.

A Yellow Vest protester on November 16, 2019, one year after the protests started. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

'Happy birthday', Yellow Vests

The yellow vests want the actions on Saturday -- their usual day of protest -- and also Sunday, the anniversary day, to remind Macron they have not vanished from the scene.

"We're here even if Macron doesn't like it," demonstrators chanted as they arrived on the outskirts of Paris Saturday, with others singing "Happy Birthday".

Police were deployed in numbers, especially along the Champs-Elysees, which was again closed off to demonstrators following the ransacking of shops that followed a protest last March.

France has a long tradition of violent protest, but the ferocity of last winter's demonstrations and allegations of police brutality shocked the country.

A poll by the Elabe institute published Wednesday said 55 percent of French people support or have sympathy for the yellow vests, although 63 percent said they do not want the protests to begin in earnest again.

The most prominent figures in the movement, which has explicitly shunned any formal leadership structure, acknowledge the declining numbers but say the authorities' response has not been sufficient.

"We shouldn't still need to be on the street one year on," said Priscillia Ludosky, an entrepreneur whose online petition against high fuel prices helped kick off the movement, told the Regards news site.