Protests in France: dancing, tear gas, barricades

On Saturday morning, the boulevard La Canebière in Marseille presents a strange picture. Some desperate tourists are wandering around, looking for the luxury shops where people can usually spend their money - but almost all of the shops have their windows barricaded with chipboard. Police officers stand in front of the local police station and talk to a little boy. They laugh. Her station also suffered a lot during the riots last weekend: the windows were shattered and the building was daubed with slogans.

Then tanks from the Gendarmerie, a police force with a military character, race past. French President Emmanuel Macron mobilized 70,000 additional police forces across the country after the riots in the student-led protests of the last few weeks. Including these armored cars that have grenade launchers mounted on them so they can shoot gas. The state is now doing so much to keep the protests in check, which have long since developed into a cross-milieu movement against austerity policies, police violence and the high cost of living.

According to the CGT union in Marseille, 100,000 people showed up for this week's demonstration, while the prefecture only speaks of 17,000. How many there really are is almost impossible to say. In any case, at midday the demonstrators flooded the streets near the Les Réformés church; the beginning and end of the protest cannot be identified.

Where German demonstrations are often characterized by speeches that resemble lectures in university seminars, the protest here is primarily an angry party. Songs are sung, there is dancing and laughter. When the demo splits to the left and right of a motorway underpass, there is a competition to see which side can shout “ACAB” louder. “The youth hates the National Front,” sing young people holding each other in their arms, while a drum group sets the beat. And a little further on, someone in a Napoleon costume is stoking the crowd with chants of “Fuck you, Macron.” It remained peaceful throughout the entire demo.

Only at the end of the route, at the Porte d'Aix, did the police suddenly fire tear gas into the crowd. A dumpster is burning on a side street. What follows is initially a clash between some protesters who throw bottles, stones and fireworks at the police, who in turn respond with gas grenades. Initially, these only hit the front part of the square, where those seeking confrontation with the police are.

Then the police shoot into the demonstration train. Gray clouds of gas immediately spread through the crowd. The protesters hold each other's shoulders in a disciplined manner and try to retreat without causing mass panic. Despite the official ban, many people wear swimming goggles that provide some protection from the gas. Nevertheless, it's all coughing and crying, a young woman can't breathe and collapses. She is dragged out of the gas by bystanders. "Medic! Medic!" they scream as the girl lies crumpled on the floor.

A game of cat and mouse ensues. The demonstration retreats through the side streets and blocks the police's path. In a side street, masked young people form chains to move blocking material from a construction site to a street. This is how the protest breaks up in an uncontrollable way for the police. Protesters are streaming in everywhere, chanting Antifa.

Over the next few hours, burning barricades appeared at many intersections in the city center. The flames burn meters high in front of the Les Réformés church. The police arrive again with armored cars, this time they also use shock grenades, the explosion of which shakes the entire street. These weapons recently tore off a 15-year-old's hand. While the police arrive, protesters take selfies in front of the burning barricades and push new trash cans into the fire.

This continues until the evening. In some cases it seems as if the demonstrators and police had simply forgotten about the sources of the fire. In the evening, several garbage cans burn in the Cours Joseph Thierry without anyone noticing. You could whisper, it's so quiet here. Only a few onlookers look into the fire until the fire department arrives to put it out. There are too many barricades for the police to clear them all. Despite the curfew, there are repeated clashes with the police in the side streets until late in the evening.

According to preliminary figures, 71 people are said to have been arrested throughout the department and seven shops were looted - that is far fewer than last week. “The protests now need a political outlet,” said Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan and called on politicians to meet the students’ demands.

Meanwhile, the young people ended the evening in the trendy La Plaine neighborhood. At Place Jean Jaurès they dance around another fire, hundreds of them drink beer here. When police cars drive by, they are insulted and thrown at. The officers just keep driving. When an ambulance has to go through a side street, everyone immediately jumps up and quickly clears the tables out of the way. Amid cheers, the ambulance can make its way through the party crowd.