In the sky of Rennes, a large plume of black smoke rose above the thousands of demonstrators gathered to shout their opposition to the pension reform. The origin of the smoke was on the side of Boulevard de la Liberté, where a Tesla brand vehicle burned. According to our information, it was indeed demonstrators who set fire to the car after having broken the windows.
For long minutes, the luxurious black sedan burned, forcing protesters to stop. This act gave rise to very lively exchanges between demonstrators. “It’s completely stupid to do that, what good does it do you? “, gets angry a woman. From a distance, a few young people are agitated and take photos of the vehicle in flames. Some explosions sound and debris from the vehicle is sometimes thrown. “It’s a symbol,” defends a young man. “It’s against capitalism,” engages another. Firefighters will arrive a few minutes later.
In the midst of this sterile debate, the union representatives in charge of safety get annoyed and try to keep the curious away. “They burned down a car. It’s stupid and it annoys me because it’s useless, “annoyed an activist. The incident had an immediate and probably undesired effect by cutting the motorcade in two. Forced to bypass the Boulevard de la Liberté, many demonstrators did not join the Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, where the procession was to disperse. Others even preferred to join the Place de la République where thousands of people were still gathered, unaware that the head of the procession had burst after this fire.
More than 25,000 people according to the unions
Before the Tesla burned down, several shop windows had been attacked by a few dozen masked individuals hiding under umbrellas. insurance, banks or the brand new Starbucks store saw their windows attacked, especially on the quays and on the Place de la République. Actions that generated tension within the procession itself and which were booed by some demonstrators. The security forces sometimes used their water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
According to the unions, more than 25,000 people gathered in Rennes to protest against the pension reform. The prefecture counted 17,000 demonstrators in the Breton capital.