Two major yellow vests events planned for Saturday 11th May, 2019 are announced in Lyon and Nantes, where the prefecture provides a “unprecedented” deployment of police against the risk of thugs.
Soon to be six months of mobilization, the “yellow vests” call to protest for the 26th time on Saturday 11th May, 2019 with “national” rallying points in Lyon and Nantes , where authorities fear the presence of thugs.
A week ago, the Ministry of the Interior had identified fewer than 19,000 protesters – against more than 40,000 for the organizers – the lowest participation since November 17th. Figures well below those of May 1st or the mobilization of officials Thursday.
Sign of breathlessness in the ranks? In Bordeaux for example, long one of the strongest strongholds, the mobilization knows since the beginning of the spring a slow decline, with processions which generally ceiling under 1500 people.
“Yellow vests” questioned by AFP confirm the trend but without giving up.
“We will be at the demonstration of Saturday with the national call, logically those of the north and the west (of France) will be in Nantes and the south in Lyon. After, as usual, the repression is scary … “, anticipates Kevin O.,” Yellow Vest “from Nantes used to a roundabout near Nantes Atlantique Airport.
Read also: Yellow Vests: a national gathering planned in Nantes for Act 26
Stagnation to the Europeans
“There is a form of weariness and fear of police violence and there is also the economic side: it is expensive to demonstrate in Paris or other cities. We can see the same breathlessness as in December but it can leave as dry, “says Thierry Boirivant, 44-year-old accountant and” yellow vest “from the outskirts of Lyon.
For Anaïs, a 26-year-old childcare assistant and co-organizer of the Douai demonstration, the mobilization will “stagnate” by the time of the European elections . “We are a little on hold,” she says, even if in her personal capacity she “will not let go, for the RIC, the rise in purchasing power, the lowering of taxes for the disabled and retired.”
“For all those living below the poverty line, it is unfortunate that there are those who stop there,” adds Christian, 58, who will demonstrate in the North.
Read also: Toulouse. Roundabouts, demo downtown … What is planned for act 26 yellow vests
The dreaded ultra-left
The “yellow vests” of Besançon and Marseille in particular are expected in Lyon, where will also be present one of the figures of the movement, Jerome Rodrigues. The Rhone prefecture has widened the scope of prohibition of the event to four shopping areas.
Ditto in Nantes, where the prefect of Loire-Atlantique Claude d’Harcourt anticipates “the gathering of 500 members of the ultra-left”. “We will have a new level of police forces,” he announced without specifying the number.
“I have no mental restriction on the use of force if necessary and obviously the execution of arrests of individuals who violate the laws of the Republic,” said Jean-Christophe Bertrand, departmental director of Public Safety.
Prohibition perimeters will also be in place in Lille, Dijon, Toulouse or Orleans. In Montpellier, the trend is to resume roundabouts, with two mobilizations planned in the morning before the afternoon walk.
In Paris, where the demonstration will leave Jussieu “in support of teachers” to protest against the law Blanquer, access to the Champs-Elysees is closed in a perimeter including the presidential palace and the National Assembly, as well as the sector of Notre -Lady.
In Strasbourg, the group “Gilets Jaunes Alsace” calls to gather in front of the Palais des Congrès, where the head of list LREM for the Europeans, Nathalie Loiseau, holds a meeting in the afternoon with the Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.
The text of the call evokes a “counter-meeting” against the “party of Macron, president of the rich,” who “comes to do his propaganda.”
Read also: Yellow Vests returning to downtown Caen for Act 26
