It seems that almost every time we go for a walk, there is a “manif,” a “manifestation.” We know one is planned when we see police getting ready. They are there long before demonstrators begin arriving. They start by closing all streets in the vicinity of the planned route – turning them into parking lots for riot-squad vans. The scene below is repeated on street after street after street.
Here, police are putting steel grills over the windows of a water-cannon. Even the blue light on top gets a screen.
Police are not just on alert for demonstrators.
This guy may be smiling as I grab a shot of him – but he’s deadly serious. The rifle he is carrying does not fire bean-bags or rubber bullets. That magazine is loaded with NATO military rounds. I can’t imagine a scenario in which firepower like that would be used against protestors. I think it’s for a possible terrorist attack – something Paris is all too familiar with. These demonstrations attract thousands of people. With numbers like that, they could also attract terrorists bent on killing as many people as possible. At least that’s my opinion as to why weapons like the one above are at the ready.
Closer to where the demonstrators are marching, there are no military rifles. The gear here consists of shields, helmets, and gas masks.
The fellow with the rifle and all those white vans belong to the Police Nationale. Here on the parade route, it’s the Gendarmerie that’s providing security. It’s easy to tell which force is in charge in which area – the Police Nationale (actually, the CRS, the riot-squad department of the Police Nationale) use white vans. The Gendarmerie use blue vans. It’s also clearly written on their backs.
Behind them, vans filled with reinforcements.
Behind the vans, the protestors – thousands of them.
These never-ending protests have one purpose – to stop Macron, the president of France, from raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
There’s no sign either side is going to budge. Motorists in Paris may have to get used to closed streets for a long time to come.