Police fire tear gas at 'freedom convoy' in Paris

Parisian police mobilized on Saturday, firing tear gas at one point on the Champs Elysees and issuing more than 200 citations in an effort to disrupt French motorists from converging on the city.

Despite police efforts, by early afternoon Saturday, vehicles involved in the so-called protest convoy had made it past police and caused traffic jams around the Arc de Triomphe in the center of the city.

France's protesters take inspiration from Canadian truckers who have managed to shut down the capital, Ottawa, after converging there to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates before going on to shut down several bridges on the US-Canada border.

The primary demands of the French protesters are for the government to withdraw the vaccine pass requirement to enter many public places and for assistance with energy bills as costs soar.

How have French authorities responded?

In France, thousands of people from across the country vowed to form "a mass of vehicles that the security forces would find impossible to contain."

Following Friday night, when drivers had camped out on the periphery of Paris, hundreds of vehicles descended on the ring road around Paris on Saturday.

By mid-morning on Saturday, police issued 283 fines for "participating in an unauthorized protest" and managed to stop at least 500 vehicles from entering the capital.

French police deployed 7,200 officers to prevent that, with the Champs Elysees particularly fortified as it was the epicenter of the "yellow vest" protests.

In one central square, police detained two and confiscated weapons, including knives and hammers.

On Twitter, Parisian police showcased some of the riot control equipment available to deter the efforts of those involved in the vehicle protests. These items included tractors for the removal of barricades and water cannon trucks. 

Armored vehicles belonging to the gendarmerie have also been sent onto the streets of Paris for the first time since the "yellow vest" protests.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex told France 2 TV: "If they block traffic or if they try to block the capital, we must be very firm about this."

"The right to demonstrate and to have an opinion are a constitutionally guaranteed right in our republic and in our democracy. The right to block others or to prevent coming and going is not," he added.

Why is there a 'freedom convoy' in France?

Though the concept of the "freedom convoy" is built around the anti-vaccine protest movement in Ottawa, the barrage of grievances drew together in France demonstrators angry at rising energy costs and some associated with the "yellow vest" movement, as well.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the fatigue people are feeling as the pandemic drags on.      

Macron told the Ouest-France newspaper: "This fatigue also leads to anger. I understand it, and I respect it. But I call for the utmost calm."

After Saturday's protest in the French capital, some participants planned to travel on to Brussels for a convergence with those engaged in similar protests in other European countries.

On Saturday morning, a similar rally occurred in The Hague, in the Netherlands, with protesters blocking the entrance to the country's historic parliament complex.

ar/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)