France cleans up Champs-Elysees after yellow vest rioting
Posted March 17, 2019 1:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Paris is cleaning up one of the world’s most glamorous avenues after resurgent rioting by yellow vest protesters stunned the nation.
Luxury stores, restaurants and banks on the Champs-Elysees assessed damage Sunday after they were ransacked or blackened by life-threatening fires. Tourists took pictures as shop owners tried to repair broken windows and city workers scrubbed away graffiti.
The posh avenue looked like a battle scene Saturday as protesters rampaged and riot police struggled to contain them for hours.
President Emmanuel Macron promised a crackdown on troublemakers he said “want to destroy the republic, at the risk of killing people.”
But he also tweeted that the rioting showed that his government needs to do more to address protesters’ concerns.
The yellow vest movement had been fizzling in recent weeks.
The Associated Press
