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The spiral of violence that has taken over the protests in France since the approval “by decree” of the pension reform, which raised the retirement age to 64 years associated with 43 years of contributions, is already considered as serious or more serious than what was seen during the yellow vest movement (2018-19). Surveys have shown that the majority of French people consider resorting to violence legitimate in the face of a head of state who refuses to establish a democratic dialogue with the population.
In just five days, 94 police officers were injured in operations to disperse night demonstrations, most of them spontaneous, formed without calling union centrals and organized groups. Police officers have been targeted, but they are also accused of using disproportionate force against peaceful protesters.
TV reports and videos posted on social media show police randomly beating participants, using intimidation as a deterrent. In five days, 855 protesters were arrested and some state buildings suffered attempts to burn. But judges and lawyers pointed out that these arrests were arbitrary, as most people were released without charges.
Police officers injured in clashes with protesters in recent days told Interior Minister Gérard Darmanin that it was increasingly difficult to protect the French capital from fires and depredations. The newspaper The Parisian accompanied a meeting between the minister and agents of a battalion of the 17th district of the capital on Tuesday night (21).
The brigades for the repression of violent acts (BRAV), and particularly a group of police who circulate on motorcycles to disperse the protests more quickly, have been hit by objects thrown by opponents angry at the social and political crisis. An agent reported to the minister that a colleague suffered a slight burn to his lungs after inhaling the vapor of a Molotov cocktail laced with perfume. The policeman accompanying him on this patrol suffers from a persistent ringing in his ears from the detonation of the homemade explosive.
According to police officers, the mobilization against the reform has hardened and is clearly more violent since Thursday, March 16, when the government decided to waive the vote of deputies and adopt the bill based on a constitutional prerogative (article 49.3).
Police captain gets stoned in the jaw
To the extent that Macron remains adamant, the most passionate consider that resorting to violence against State representatives is a legitimate weapon to combat the government’s political violence.
A survey by council office Elabe for the BFMTV channel shows that only 8% of French people were satisfied with the way the government handled the reform; 68% remain against the measures. According to researcher Jerôme Fourquet, the resentment of the French with the attitude of contempt of the president makes the majority of the French endorse the resort to violence in order to be heard.
In this struggle, police officers have been the target of attacks of rare intensity. On Friday night, one of the operational heads of BRAV was hit in the face with a stone in Praça da Concordia. With 27 years of experience in the police and 14 in street patrol, this policeman told the Minister of the Interior that he had never been attacked with this virulence.
According to the record of the meeting made by the The Parisian, the police officer does not believe that the stone was aimed particularly at him. But as he had raised the visor of his helmet for a few moments, he ended up being hit in the jaw and two teeth.
The hostility of a portion of the French towards the police is the result of the history of abuses documented by specialists in the strategies and methods employed by the corporation. This situation was evident during the yellow vest movement.
Currently, in the face of the contempt shown by President Emmanuel Macron to the criticism leveled against his reform project, many French people say that violence is the only weapon they have to face a leader they consider increasingly authoritarian, disconnected from the democratic game and the aspirations of the population.