The street is still roaring against the pension reform. Several thousand people took part on Tuesday evening in Nantes and Rennes in torchlight demonstrations to protest against the government.
In Nantes, the 10,000 demonstrators according to the unions, 4,100 according to the police, some of whom were carrying torches, chanted in particular: “Chopped careers, shitty pensions! “. The first tear gas was fired shortly after the start of the demonstration by the security forces, who came under heavy mortar fire.
Damage in Nantes
On the sidelines of the procession, degradations were committed, in particular ransacked businesses and tags like “49.3 it will not pass” or “Macron only understands the riot”. Three hours after the start of the demonstration, participants remained determined to continue their movement despite attempts by the security forces to disperse them. Around 10:30 p.m., calm seemed to have returned to Nantes.
In Rennes, 4,000 people, some of whom carried torches, according to the organizers, 1,200 according to the prefecture, strolled through the city center in peace. Back at their starting point around 8:30 p.m., the demonstrators released paper lanterns into the sky, chanting slogans hostile to Emmanuel Macron and the police, before dispersing.
Four arrests in Rennes
A few hundred of them, however, continued on their way for a “wild demonstration”, separating into small groups to thwart the police device. Around 11 p.m., the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine reported eleven interventions by firefighters on fire starts, including a vehicle set on fire by a nearby garbage bin fire, and “four arrests for fire and rebellion”.
In addition, in Le Mans, around 300 demonstrators gathered around a “fire sculpture” representing “49.3”, in reference to the article of the Constitution used by the government to pass the pension reform without the vote of The national assembly.