French police clash with ‘Block Everything’ protesters while Macron installs a new PM

By JOHN LEICESTER JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and SAMUEL PETREQUIN PARIS AP Protesters blocked roads lit blazes and were met with volleys of tear gas on Wednesday in Paris and elsewhere in France heaping pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and making new Prime Minister S bastien Lecornu s first day in office a baptism of fire Related Articles Israel launches strikes in Yemen as EU chief seeks sanctions on Israel over war in Gaza Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in quiet Qatar shocks Gulf allies and tests US ties EU chief says it s time for Europe s independence moment faced with war and major power tensions Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace during strikes on Ukraine Nowadays in History September CERN s Large Hadron Collider powered up The establishment disclosed hundreds of arrests as demonstrations against Macron budget cuts and other complaints spread to big cities and small towns Although falling short of its self-declared intention to Block Everything the protest movement that started online over the summer caused widespread hot spots of disruption defying an exceptional deployment of police who broke up barricades and swiftly took people into custody Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau explained that a bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes In the southwest fire damage to electrical cables stopped train services on one line and disrupted traffic on another executive movement officers reported Spreading protests The Bloquons Tout or Block Everything protests while mobilizing tens of thousands of people nevertheless appeared less intense than previous bouts of unrest that have sporadically rocked Macron in both his first and ongoing second term as president They included months of nationwide so-called yellow vest demonstrations against economic injustice in - After his reelection in Macron also faced firestorms of anger over unpopular pension reforms and nationwide unrest and rioting in after the deadly police shooting of a teenager on Paris outskirts Still demonstrations and sporadic clashes with riot police in Paris and elsewhere Wednesday added to a sense of dilemma that has again gripped France following its latest ruling body collapse on Monday when Prime Minister Fran ois Bayrou lost a parliamentary confidence vote The protests right away presented a challenge to Bayrou s replacement Lecornu installed Wednesday Another from the right Groups of protesters who repeatedly tried to block Paris beltway during the morning rush hour were dispersed by police using tear gas Elsewhere in the capital protesters piled up trash cans and hurled objects at police officers Firefighters were called out to a fire in a restaurant in the downtown Ch telet neighborhood where thousands of protesters gathered peacefully In Paris the number of arrests topped police declared The Interior Ministry broadcasted nearly people taken into custody nationwide Paris included Protesters of the the Block Everything movement march during a rally in Strasbourg eastern France Wednesday Sept AP Photo Pascal Bastien French police disperse protesters during a gathering of the Block Everything movement in Marseille south of France Wednesday Sept AP Photo Philippe Magoni French police fire tear gas grenades to protesters during a gathering of the Block Everything movement in Marseille south of France Wednesday Sept AP Photo Philippe Magoni Protesters block a street during the Bloquons Tout Block Everything protest movement in Paris Wednesday Sept AP Photo Thibault Camus Show Caption of Protesters of the the Block Everything movement march during a rally in Strasbourg eastern France Wednesday Sept AP Photo Pascal Bastien Expand Road blockades traffic slowdowns and other protests were widely spread from the southern port city of Marseille to Lille and Caen in the north and Nantes and Rennes in the west to Grenoble and Lyon in the southeast Government stated demonstrations in small towns too Afternoon gatherings of thousands of people in central Paris were peaceful and good humored with placards taking aim at Macron and his new prime minister Lecornu you re not welcome read a placard brandished by a group of graphic design students Another read Macron explosion One prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right noted candidate Baptiste Sagot They re trying to make working people young students retirees all people in difficulty bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth A weary nation France s prolonged cycle of political instability with Macron s minority governments lurching from situation to emergency has fueled widespread discontent Paris protester Aglawen Vega a nurse and society hospital union delegate mentioned anger that fueled the yellow-vest protests never went away and that she craved to defend France s community services from privatization We re governed by robbers she revealed People are suffering are finding it harder and harder to last out the month to feed themselves We re becoming an impoverished nation Particular criticized the disruptions It s a bit excessive announced Bertrand Rivard an accounting worker on his way to a meeting in Paris We live in a democracy and the people should not block the country because the cabinet doesn t take the right decisions Block Everything gathered momentum over the summer on social media and encrypted chats including on Telegram Pavel Durov its Russian-born founder now under review in France for alleged criminal activity on the messaging app commented he is proud the platform was used to organise anti-Macron rallies The movement s call for a day of blockades strikes boycotts demonstrations and other acts of protest came as Bayrou was preparing plans to massively slash masses spending by billion euros billion to rein in France s growing deficit and trillions in debts He also proposed the elimination of two residents holidays from the country s annual calendar which proved wildly unpopular Lecornu who previously served as defense minister now inherits the task of addressing France s budget difficulties facing the same political instability and widespread hostility to Macron that contributed to Bayrou s undoing Macron s governments have been on particularly shaky ground since he dissolved the National Assembly last year triggering an unscheduled legislative voting that stacked the lower house of parliament with opponents of the French president Spontaneous movement Block Everything grew virally online with no clear identified leadership and a broad array of complaints a multitude of targeting budget cuts broader inequality and Macron himself Retailleau a conservative who allied with Macron s centrist camp to serve as interior minister in Bayrou s regime and is now in a caretaker role until Lecornu puts his Cabinet together alleged Wednesday that left-wing radicals hijacked the protest movement even though it has an apparent broad range of supporters Appeals for non-violence accompanied its online protest calls Retailleau alleged that elected politicians who have backed the movement are attempting to create a conditions of insurrection in France and he revealed various protesters appeared hell-bent on fighting with police We have in fact small groups that are seasoned mobile often wearing masks and hoods dressed in black which in reality are the recognized signs the DNA of extreme-left and ultra-left movements Retailleau explained The spontaneity of Block Everything is reminiscent of the yellow vests That movement started with workers camping out at traffic circles to protest a hike in fuel taxes sporting high-visibility vests It rapidly spread to people across political regional social and generational divides angry at economic injustice and Macron s leadership