The yellow vest rioters in Paris torched luxury clothing and accessories shops along the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue on Saturday. They also burned down the barricades and hurled smoke bombs and bricks at police who were trying to control the situation.
The popular location in central Paris definitely looks like a warzone when around 10,000 yellow vest protesters destroyed properties like banks, luxury stores, and restaurants. As per AFP via Yahoo News, this is the 18th weekend of demonstrations against French President Emmanuel Macron. The protests were staged to show the citizens' strong denouncement and discontent with the way he is running the state.
The violent protest on Saturday started more than four months ago after the French president threatened to increase fuel taxes and the dissatisfaction of people further heightened when more issues cropped up and they dislike how the president has been managing the issues since the burden is being passed on to citizens.
The violence staged by the yellow vest protesters was said to be a wakeup call to Macron who is also being accused of favoring the elite. At any rate, it was reported that around 60 people were injured and 17 of them were law enforcement. Due to the severity of the event, one Parisian even described the chaotic day as "apocalypse."
In response to the aggressive protest on Saturday, Macron said that his government realized they need to do more in order to address the rioters' complaints. He also vowed to go after the troublemakers who he claimed want to obliterate the republic and doing so without a care if they kill people.
The French president cut his ski trip short to meet with the security officials and oversee how the police are handling the crisis at Champs-Elysees Avenue.
Meanwhile, clean up around the affected zones in Paris have started on Sunday. The Daily Mail reported that the mass cleanup began in the morning but it will take some time for the shops to be restored as the damages were too severe for simple fixing.
Some of the famous luxury boutiques that were looted and burned include the Longchamp handbag store, Hugo Boss' menswear, the Fouquet's brasserie, a favorite among the rich and famous and a fine dining place frequented by celebrities and politicians.
Finally, French PM Edouard Philippe also expressed his anger over the yellow vest riot. Via Twitter, he wrote. "Like the vast majority of French people, I feel very angry today. Today's actions are not the work of protesters, but of looters, arsonists, and criminals. No cause justifies this violence."
