“Macron, we fuck you!”: A few days after the shattering declarations of Emmanuel Macron, decided to “piss off” the unvaccinated, the latter and the opponents of the vaccine pass have beaten the pavement in several cities of France, reviving large-scale mobilizations.
The Interior Ministry announced 105,200 participants throughout France, four times more than the 25,500 of the previous mobilization on December 18.
In Paris, the most important demonstration brought together several thousand people at the call of the Patriots of the pro-Frexit presidential candidate Florian Philippot, regaining the level of the mobilizations of this summer, when the health pass was announced.
“Macron, your pass we do not want”, “Do not touch the children” chanted the demonstrators, many of whom were wearing a French flag, in the middle of a few fleur-de-lis.
“If the law passes, we will no longer be able to go to school, we will no longer be able to work”, feared in the crowd a young man of 17, close to the ideas of Florian Philippot, who does not want to “s’ inject a vaccine during the experiment “.
A 57-year-old librarian, declaring herself rather “green” and melenchonist, says she is “disturbed” by the person of Mr. Philippot. But she wanted to protest against “the pass which becomes a disguised vaccine obligation”, while vaccines produce according to her “side effects”.
The demonstration, which started from the Place du Palais royal, took on Place Vauban in the form of a political meeting, several far-right personalities coming to support the demonstrators: via video message, Marine Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, the very conservative Jean-Frédéric Poisson, support of Eric Zemmour, or former adviser to Donald Trump Steve Bannon.
“Anyone vaccinated is an unvaccinated future” because of the need to carry out one or more reminders, “all French people are in the crosshairs of the liberticidal follies of Macron the crazy”, criticized Florian Philippot in his speech.
A police source described the gathering as “tense”. Just like the one held on Boulevard de l’Hôpital (in the south-east of Paris), on the initiative of yellow vests, which also found levels of mobilization similar to those at the beginning of the summer.
– “Vaccine of respect” –
The vaccine pass bill, adopted by deputies on Thursday, is due to pass before the Senate next week.
In Lyon, a small crowd of demonstrators of all ages and little masked gathered in a good-natured atmosphere on Place Bellecour, in the city center. Among them some “yellow vests”, tricolor flags and a red from the CGT. Slogans denouncing “social apartheid” and boos against President Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister punctuated the demonstration.
The demonstrators were about 500 in Dijon, 650 in Saint-Etienne, nearly 500 in Puy-en-Velay, according to the authorities, figures in clear increase compared to previous mobilizations.
In Bordeaux, between 500 and 1,000 people, according to the police, and 9,000 according to the organizers, demonstrated despite the rain under the cries of “Macron on you bored”. “When will a vaccine of respect?”, “Confidence broken”, could we read on the signs.
A Bordeaux protester, unvaccinated against Covid-19 “but not anti-vaccine”, said marching “for the first time in her life” because the words of the President of the Republic “broke the camel’s back”.
Clashes between demonstrators and the police enamelled the demonstration in Montpellier, which gathered 3,700 people according to the prefecture. In Toulouse, where incidents also occurred, they were 2,200 according to the prefecture.
In the East, 1,250 demonstrators marched in Colmar and 1,900 in Mulhouse, according to the Haut-Rhin prefecture. They were 1,500 in Strasbourg, according to that of Bas-Rhin.
In Paris, three processions gathered 18,000 people, according to the ministry which reported 10 arrests and three members of the police injured. In the rest of the country, where there were 24 arrests and seven police officers slightly injured according to the ministry, they were 87,200 in the street.
On September 11, the authorities counted 121,000 demonstrators against vaccination and the health pass throughout the country and some 237,000 pvkarticipants on August 7.