The 23rd straight weekend of the so-called Yellow Vest protests in Paris.
Police have clashed with the demonstrators who continue to take to the streets of the French capital.
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On Saturday, law enforcement officers fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters that had set fire to trash cans and several motorcycles while throwing rocks at police.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said more than 100 protesters had been arrested.
More than 60,000 police officers and gendarmes, who had been placed on high alert in the past days, were deployed to confront the protesters while large portions of the Paris metro network were closed to block the protesters’ mobility.
Following a fire at the historic Notre-Dame Cathedral earlier this week, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner warned that rioters intended to wreak havoc in Paris, Toulouse, Montpellier and Bordeaux.
President Emmanuel Macron, who has vowed to turn “anger into solutions,” set Thursday as the day to present the results deducted from the nationwide “Great National Debate.”
The debate, which included 10,000 local meetings, a multitude of online contributions, and 100 hours of presidential talking in public meetings over the past five months, has been publicized as his solution to the people’s woes.
The Yellow Vest protests, named after the high-visibility safety jackets worn by most of the demonstrators, started in mid-November in protest against a planned increase in fuel prices.
The government cancelled the plan, but the protests continue on a national scale, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction in the French society.
