Paris braces for violent protests as yellow vests are accused of "creating a monster"

The yellow vests protest movement has “created a monster,” the French Interior Minister said Friday as Paris braced for more violence in protests planned for Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, Christophe Castaner said that the street demonstrations that have convulsed France for three weeks “created a monster that escaped from its creators,” with the movement originally protesting a fuel tax and morphing into broad anti-government anger. Now, he said, it was “time for the Republic,” as he vowed that authorities would respond decisively to any violent elements this weekend.

An official from his ministry told AFP that the government was anticipating “significant violence,” with far-right and far-left agitators expected to converge on the capital Paris.

“I will have no tolerance of those who capitalize on the distress of our citizens,” he said.

President Emmanuel Macron’s concessions to the so-called yellow vest movement in the wake of last Saturday’s unrest— such as scrapping an unpopular “green tax” on diesel and petrol — have failed to placate the protesters.

Castaner said that 89,000 security officers will be deployed Saturday across France — including 8,000, supported by a dozen armored vehicles, in Paris — in a massive deployment to rein in the extremist fringe who he said had been "radicalized and fallen into violence and hate.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the “yellow vests” and the Paris riots

Many of the capital's most famous attractions — including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Paris Opera —will shut down over the weekend in a bid to shield them from the violence and vandalism that saw l’Arc de Triomphe, the city’s landmark war memorial, defaced with anti-government graffiti last Saturday. Police have asked stores on the Champs-Elysees and other major shopping thoroughfares to close, and remove outdoor furniture, while a number of football matches have also been rescheduled.

More than 630 people were arrested, and 260 injured in protests across the country last weekend, as the weekslong “yellow vest” protests took a violent turn, resulting in the worst rioting seen in central Paris since 1968. The protests, named after the hi-vis vests French drivers are required to keep in their cars, began last month against rising fuel prices and a planned hike on fuel taxes, before morphing into a broader movement channeling anger at Macron’s pro-business economic policies.

Macron’s concessions to the protesters, including scrapping the controversial fuel tax hike Wednesday, have failed to satisfy the movement, with agitators calling on social media for “Act IV” — a fourth major protest — on Saturday.

The protests have spread to schools, with dozens of high schools blockaded in Paris, Marseille, and Nantes Thursday in opposition to Macron’s planned changes to the baccalaureate university entrance exam. More than 140 were arrested following a protest in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, which resulted in clashes with police and two cars being torched, before police in riot gear subdued the protesting students and made them kneel with their hands on their heads.

The police response drew widespread criticism when footage from the scene circulated on social media, with critics labeling the police actions “intolerable.”

Despite the growing calls for restraint coming from unions, politicians, and members of the yellow vest movement itself, the protesters appear to have strong public support, with about 70 percent of the public backing the movement. Meanwhile Macron’s approval ratings have slumped to just 23 percent.

The sprawling movement, which draws support from across the political spectrum, has no official leadership structure, but prominent representatives have emerged. French media reports revealed this week that one of them, Jean-François Bernaba, had claimed a €2,600 ($2,965) a month salary as a civil servant for ten years without actually turning up for work, while another, Maxime Nicolle, has been promoting the conspiracy theory that Macron plans to “sell France” by signing the United Nations pact on migration.