Eventually, socialists run out of other people’s money.
PARIS – The rumble of armored police trucks and the hiss of tear gas filled central Paris on Saturday, as French riot police fought to contain thousands of yellow-vested protesters venting their anger against the government in a movement that has grown more violent by the week.
A ring of steel surrounded the president’s Elysee Palace – a key destination for the protesters – as police stationed trucks and reinforced metal barriers throughout the neighborhood.
Stores along the elegant Champs-Elysees Avenue and the posh Avenue Montaigne boarded up their windows as if bracing for a hurricane but the storm struck anyway Saturday, this time at the height of the holiday shopping season. Protesters ripped off the plywood protecting the windows and threw flares and other projectiles. French riot police repeatedly repelled them with tear gas and water cannon.
Saturday’s yellow vest crowd was overwhelmingly male, a mix of those bringing their financial grievances to Paris – the center of France’s government, economy and culture – along with groups of experienced vandals who tore steadily through some of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, smashing and burning.
Rioting engulfs Paris as anger grows over high French taxes
The rumble of armored police trucks and the hiss of tear gas filled central Paris on Saturday, as French riot police fought to contain thousands of yellow-vested protesters venting their anger against the government in a movement that has grown more violent by the week.