Yellow Vests Rally Turns Violent as Right-Wing Supporters Join, Police Use Tear Gas

PARIS (Sputnik) - A mass demonstration organised by the Yellow Vests movement against the right-wing led to violence when radical activists joined the crowd and started throwing bottles at the police, prompting officers to use tear gas, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.

The march started on Saturday afternoon with the procession slowly moving from the Place de la Nation toward the Place de la Republique. Several hundred people, including the Yellow Vests, anti-fascist organisations, migrant associations, and numerous trade unions marched in solidarity against extreme right-wing politicians, and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen in particular, and fascism. The activists chanted "Neither Macron nor Le Pen!" and called for a boycott of the second round of the French presidential election.

The demonstration was held back by police cordons and was overall peaceful until the radical Black Bloc youth joined the crowd, provoking the police and throwing bottles at the officers. The police responded by using tear gas several times.

Earlier in the day, other protesters gathered for a peaceful rally against the second presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, in the eighth arrondissement of Paris. The demonstration was organized by the leader of the Patriots movement, Florian Philippot, under the slogan "Macron - never again!"

On 10 April, France held the first round of the presidential election. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron received 27.84% of the vote and Le Pen 23.15%, which means they will face one another in a second round on 24 April.