The Parisian procession of May 1st was enamelled with violence this Sunday. At the end of the day, on the microphone of BFMTV from the police headquarters, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, reported eight police officers “wounded” during the day in the capital. He also announces that “45 arrests took place and in particular that of the woman who attacked the firefighter who was not injured, fortunately”.
Earlier in the day, the assault on a firefighter on the sidelines of the protest sparked outrage. According to television images, widely relayed on social networks, the firefighter was holding his water hose in the direction of the fire, rue Alexandre-Dumas, when a woman came to jostle him to prevent him from extinguishing the fire before to strike him twice with his hand on his helmet. “It’s enough ! Shame on the savagery, incomprehensible this new aggression vis-à-vis the firefighters of Paris in the exercise of their functions, to protect the people, the goods of the City and the smooth running of the demonstration “lamented the Paris firefighters in a tweet.
? That’s enough! Shame on the savagery, incomprehensible this new aggression towards the firefighters of Paris in the exercise of their functions, to protect people, the property of the City and the smooth running of the event. #May1st pic.twitter.com/Scwd6UqwCV
– @PompiersParis (@PompiersParis) May 1, 2022
Policing “not up to par”
Clashes between thugs and police took place throughout the course of the Parisian demonstration. Several demonstrators were injured in these clashes. The route of the procession was also the scene of damage to street furniture, burning of garbage cans and the ransacking of dozens of bank signs, real estate agencies and insurance companies.
Faced with these acts, several politicians point the finger at maintaining order in the police headquarters. Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, denounces on Twitter “parasitic violence” who “Invisibilize the march of the unions and serve as propaganda to our worst adversaries. Fed up. The police chief knew. Unable to guarantee the right to demonstrate in peace.” On BFMTV, LFI deputy Alexis Corbière directly implicates Didier Lallement: “We have a Lallement prefect who is very repressive when it comes to yellow vests. But when there are people who come to break, it’s disturbing. There was no device up to par”.
At the end of the day, the CGT indicated that “more than 210,000 demonstrators” paraded throughout France, including 50,000 in Paris. The Occurrence firm, which established the account for a media collective, estimated the Parisian crowd at 21,000. On the Interior Ministry side, 116,500 people were counted throughout France, including 24,000 in the capital.
Update at 8:30 p.m. with the mobilization figures