Statement by Nantes Révoltée about blockades and a wild demonstration by the Yellow Jackets movement in Nantes, French territory. According to Nantes Révoltée there were no far right activists duiring yesterdays actions in Nantes.
Originally published by Nantes Révoltée Facebook page. Edited machine translation Enough is Enough.
Note: Enough is Enough is not organizing any of these events, we are publishing this text for people across the US and Europe to be able to see what is going on and for documentation only.
France has entered an area of historical turbulence. This Saturday, December 1, tens of thousands of “yellow jackets” again took the streets. In Saint-Étienne a shopping center was burned down. Barricades arose in Charleville Mézière, Bordeaux and elsewhere. Clashes, sometimes of an unprecedented scale, took place in Toulouse and Tours. The innumerable blockades continue all over France, in particular in Saint-Nazaire. In Puy en Velay, the prefecture is on fire. In Paris, the avenues of the most beautiful city in the world crackle while the police lost control of several streets.
In Nantes, hundreds of yellow jackets marched uninterrupted in a freezing rain to the airport this morning to organize a blockade . The Tarmac airport is located south of the city. While a roundabout is blocked, parking tolls held by the multinational Vinci are open. A handful of irreducibles managed to invade the hyper-secure zone of Tarmac. Two hours later, after reinforcements arrived, anew bang: Tarmac is invaded after a run, by dozens of “young jackets” who managed to break the fence that surrounds the air strips. Several planes are nailed to the ground.
But it is already time to march in the city center. Around 13H, around 1500 people will leave from the outbursts of the prefecture, led by slogans against the government and capitalism. The motto of the day? “Macron resign”. While most of the repressive forces are concentrated in Paris, Nantes continues to undergo a special regime. Several squads of gendarmes and hooded police have been deployed in the city, and will tirelessly attack the demonstration, yet calm. Important precision: unlike certain scenes seen in Paris, there is no far right presence in Nantes. Apart from the ones who wear uniforms.
Blockades by gendarmes are trying to prevent the demonstration from advancing, firing loads of tear gas, and charging the front lines. These attacks multiply the anger, and different groups will diffuse everywhere in the city center. At the Christmas market, the station and to the streets with luxury shops, shouting “Nantes is standing up, rise”. Everywhere the police assault, strike, attack. At dusk, the gendarmes have drown the Place du Bouffay with tear gas. The march lasted several hours and reinforced the revolt. The judicious remark of a person who was demonstrating for the first time: “Ah, but it is in fact useless to be peaceful! “. Two free and brutal arrests are to be deplored. In front of the Prefecture some of the demonstrators are wet and charged. One person is badly injured in the face from a shot.
Despite the weather, groups still found the energy to return blocking the airport area at night by setting barricades on fire on the road. Others came back to defy the police in the city center. The government has blood on its hands: dozens of people have been seriously injured and maimed by the police today. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested.
A persistent wind of revolt is blowing over France. Everything begins!
Nantes Révoltée, December 1, 2018.
Nantes Révoltée
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