Protesters clash with police in Paris as ‘Block Everything’ movement gains momentum
Protesters clashed with police early Wednesday in Paris, where garbage bins were set on fire, as the government deployed an exceptional 80,000 police for a day of nationwide action under the slogan “Block Everything.”
The protesters, angry at French President Emmanuel Macron over his leadership and austerity policies, are planning to disrupt activity across the country.
The Paris police prefecture said 75 people had already been detained by 9 a.m., with demonstrations and blockades expected to continue throughout the day.
Two days after François Bayrou was ousted as prime minister in a parliamentary confidence vote and replaced on Tuesday by Sébastien Lecornu, thousands of protesters responded to online calls to disrupt the country.
The “Bloquons Tout” (Block Everything) movement had gathered momentum on social media and in encrypted chats over the summer. Its call for a day of blockades, strikes, demonstrations, and other acts of protest comes as Macron — one of the movement’s main targets — installed his fourth prime minister in 12 months.
The movement, which has grown virally with no clear identified leadership, has a broad array of demands — many targeting contested belt-tightening budget plans that Bayrou championed before his demise — as well as broader complaints about inequality.
Calls online for strikes, boycotts, blockades and other forms of protest on Wednesday have been accompanied with appeals to avoid violence.
The spontaneity of “Block Everything” is reminiscent of the “Yellow Vest” movement that rocked Macron’s first term as president. It started with workers camping out at traffic circles to protest a hike in fuel taxes, sporting high-visibility vests. It quickly spread to people across political, regional, social and generational divides angry at economic injustice and Macron’s leadership.
