‘Our voices just aren’t heard’: ‘Block Everything’ protesters meet heavy police response in Paris
Police came down hard on scattered groups of protesters trying to block critical roads and infrastructure in Paris on Wednesday to protest government austerity measures as France’s fifth prime minister in under two years took office. Demonstrators said they were frustrated with successive governments that changed names and faces – but not policy.
The signal’s red, but the road is still alive with people. At the Porte de Bagnolet, one of several major interchanges between metropolitan Paris and the Boulevard Périphérique ring road that curls around the capital, a few dozen demonstrators are milling back and forth across the road. Traffic is backed up, and the drivers are furious. It’s 7:30am, and if they’re not already late for work, they soon will be. The noise of horns is unrelenting.
Soon, the braying horns give way to a sharper sound. Mounted police pull up on heavyset motorbikes in a wail of sirens, and the pace of the protesters quickens. They drift away from the crossing and begin making their way back into the city.
The armoured police dismount, and all pretence of nonchalance vanishes. A few demonstrators break into a run, and the police give chase. A man stumbles as a police officer lunges at him, hitting the asphalt hard. The protesters seethe. Back off, back off, they yell. Back on his feet, the police officer looks around him and sees that he’s outnumbered. He backs off.
The next action ends less dramatically. At a nearby crossing, a mounted police officer tells a scant dozen protesters that they have ten minutes to clear the road before the police come out in force. The young demonstrators exchange nervous looks, then let out a cheer, and clap, and clear the road.
