Paris: French yellow vest protesters marched Saturday to remind the government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral is not the only problem the nation needs to solve.
Security was extra-high in Paris as authorities braced for resurgent yellow vest anger and Paris police said some 70 people were detained by mid-morning.
Multiple protest events are being held around Paris and other cities Saturday for the 23rd weekend of the yellow vest movement against wealth inequality and President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership.
A group of about 200 people tried to march on the President’s Elysee Palace in central Paris but riot police blocked them at the neo-classical Madeleine Church.
Another group gathered around the Finance Ministry in eastern Paris to demand lower taxes on workers and pensioners and higher taxes on the rich.
Yet another group is trying to demonstrate yellow vest mourning over the Notre Dame blaze while also keeping up pressure on Macron.
The group wanted to march to Notre Dame itself, but was banned by police, who have set up a large security perimeter around the area.
Many protesters were deeply saddened by the fire at a national monument.
But at the same time they are angry at the $1 billion in Notre Dame donation that poured in from tycoons while their own demands remain largely unmet and they struggle to make ends meet.
Some 60,000 police officers were mobilised for Saturday’s protests across France as the interior minister warned of the risk of resurgent violence.
The movement is largely peaceful but extremists have attacked treasured monuments, shops and banks and clashed with police.
The heavy police presence meant subway stations and roads around Paris were closed Saturday, thwarting tourists who converged on the French capital for an exceptionally warm spring day.
“Paris is very difficult right now,” said Paul Harlow, of Kansas City, Missouri, as he looked sadly at the damaged Notre Dame.
