Martina Markota reports on the Yellow Vest protests in Paris and how far-left groups like Antifa are using the protests as an opportunity to loot and vandalize.
Paris Yellow Jacket protest. Theyāre upset about mostly Macron, everyoneās really upset about the government tax prices. Youāll hear about a lot carbon tax, immigration, these people are also upset about immigration and these taxes kind of play a part with the immigration because immigrants are unemployed, theyāre not making money, theyāre just benefiting through the government benefits and it ends up being the taxpayers that are compensating for that.
So taxes are just insane. And people are so upset about it they decided to protest. Why people are wearing these yellow jackets? Is because everyone is required to have them in their car, itās mandatory, so when you get out of your car and youāre doing something on the street or something you have to put on the yellow vest. So they all gathered wearing his yellow vest to protest Macron.
So we went and as we started approaching the arc there was a bit of mist in the air it smelt like sulfur and it wasnāt so bad, and we got up we could tell that there was a bit of noise going on by the arc, but the closer and closer we got the more pops and bangs there were, and then suddenly the the scent of sulfur wasnāt just in the air anymore, it was actually really burning the nose the eyes and it became really uncomfortable, and thatās why everyone was wearing gas masks.
So I wanted to see what the action was, get right in there, so when we got to the arc, there was definitely more action there, was police everywhere, people were screaming and protesting and angry about Macron and then there was just more and more smoke. Things started to get way more hazy and uncomfortable, everyone was crying because of the tear gas people were helping each other put eyedrops in, and the more things became heated between the police and the protesters the more violent things became.Ā Police were wearing riot gear. They were not only shooting this gas but there was the rubber bullets and theyāre very large.
This is the size of the rubber bullets that the police were shooting into the crowd. So became pretty dangerous and volatile. In fact last weekend there was a lady that lost an eye because - Ā could you imagine this going into your face. I mean itās incredible that I came out safe and I wasnāt even wearing any gear. I honestly wasnāt expecting this type of protest being this way. There was a guy that we went with that was hit by one of these, and look at the damage that it did - this broke skin.Ā
Another person got a broken nose from these bullets so we got peddled in the police were everywhere they were spraying water hoses with these trucks and the arc de triumphe is an inner circleso the police were surrounding the perimeter while all the protesters were in the middle and they were shooting all of these bullets these plastic bullets the teargas was was crazy itās important to remember that these are police orders Macron is gassing his own people.
While we were there there was even one of the Antifa guys who ended up attacking a police officer and he started raising his shield like he had victory over the police and a really interesting story because when he was attacking the police he really beating him up, but there was the other Yellowjackets people that ended up protecting the police and saving him from the fellow protester far-left protester who was attacking him.
Once there was tear gas in one area everyone would run cuz it very uncomfortable it was making us gag, people were vomiting, they were very uncomfortable, so once these things wouldĀ shoot we would shuffle to another side of the circle and what they did was they tracked us on all sides, and shot tear gas and pellets to the point where we didnāt know where they wanted us to go. At that point it was just punishment and it became so unbearable that me and myĀ partner with this crew, were like we canāt handle this anymore and we begged the police to please let us out.
Well we came back to Paris burning. We originally got out of the cab and instantly there was police chasing the Yellowjackets, they were shooting more of those cannons and at this point I knew what was going on and realized this was not safe. I did not want to be in the middle of any of these plastic bullets, so we got out of there and decided to walk around and as we approached the arc again for the second time at night it was incredible, we walked down the street and the first thing we noticed was a shop store. A shop store had the glass broken it was looted there was things all over the place and the store owner was very angry, she was visibly upset, this is her business this is a local business, and they were looted and I didnāt understand why this was happening because I did see some of the protesters throwing bottles and doing things and I was like āwhy is this happeningā? And someone said āoh those are the leftist, those are the leftistā and I didnāt want to just come here and tell you āoh these are leftistā and just say that to you without any evidence.
But when we saw these lootings going on. Every time there was a store looted itās really interesting that you would see an anarchy sign, you would see Antifa there was always an indication that it was far leftists, there was no indication that it was anyone else. So there were normal people at this protest. There are regular everyday workers there itās not a political thing, there was left-wing, there was right-wing, there was clearly Antifa there were right-wingers, there was normal working people but the this looting and the disaster that came afterwards all the fires and all the burning cars flipped over they all were signed and tagged by leftist, and Antifa, and this is the proof.
People are very angry at Macron, and the press reported that he said ācome and get meā so during the protest there was a sign that said āweāre coming to get youā. I mean this is another revolution that people are trying to make. Thereās graffiti that even say ārevolutionā . People are very upset, this is a very good indicator that the tide needs to turn, but I would just be careful of exactly who is looting and creating destruction because you donāt want this type of far-left extremism to ruin this point, you want this point to be good and to be true and to help France become France again instead of just crazy destruction and third-world behavior.
The people are demanding referendum, they want change and they want it to be in the hands of the people, not the government. I also want to point out that in this footage right here you can see Antifa graffitit on the arc de triumphe, I mean as someone thatās into art and culture and if you are supposedly a nationalist why would you destroy one of your most amazing monuments with this kind of graffiti? Apparently these people care more about Antifa than they do for France.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXpa4_tW3Ts