Yellow Vest Unrest: French Anger and Police Brutality on the Streets of Paris

For more months now the so-called Yellow Vest protests have turned into weekly clashes between demonstrators and police in France. The protests were sparked when the French President Macron hiked up fuel taxes after also abolishing a policy that put a high tax on the rich. Due to this, the perception is that the poor are made poorer and the rich are made richer. There is no one specific demographic to protesters out on the streets in Paris—they’re all just very angry and want Macron to resign.

At Popular Front we went to cover the protests after seeing weeks of police violence and dangerous clashes throughout Paris. The weekend we arrived was the beginning of a new police tactic—heavy kettling. We were stuck with #YellowVest protesters for hours, finding it near impossible to move throughout the city. Either way, we made this short dispatch to give you an idea of why so many people are so pissed off in France.

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