Anti-health pass demonstrations: 121,000 participants counted, mobilization still decreases – LCI

The mobilization against the health pass still struggling. After three consecutive weekends of decline, the number of demonstrators is still lower than last Saturday. According to the Interior Ministry, 121,000 people marched across France, including 19,000 in Paris. By comparison, they were 140,000 last Saturday, 165,000 the week before and 175,000 seven days earlier.

As since the beginning of the movement, they protest against the extension of the health pass which, according to them, hinders their “freedoms”. “My fear is the total loss of freedoms and the vaccination of children”, tells a protester at the microphone of LCI. “I don’t want to be forced to show a QR code to go out, I want to keep my privacy confidential”, explains a participant.

On the political side, Florian Philippot, founder of the Patriots and candidate for the presidential election, was, as usual, present at the head of one of the Parisian gatherings. In total, four processions were formed in the capital. One of them set off at the beginning of the afternoon from the avenue de Breteuil, a mixture of yellow vests or activists from the South or far left union, to the cries of “Macron, your pass, we don’t want it”, “Macron resignation” Where “No to dictatorship”, noted AFP journalists.

The demonstrators are also protesting against the vaccine obligation, which will extend from Wednesday, September 15 to health professionals. “We are at the foot of the wall”, deplores a demonstrator who came especially from Franche-Comté to demonstrate in Paris. “On September 15, colleagues and I are going to be suspended without pay. The health system didn’t need that.”, she told AFP.

A few incidents were reported in Paris at midday around the Champs-Élysées, where the police fired tear gas canisters to deny access to demonstrators. Several people were arrested, according to a police source at AFP. On social networks, several videos reporting the use of tear gas on rue de Rivoli have also been published.

In total, 76 people were arrested, including 70 in Paris, says the Ministry of the Interior. Three police officers and gendarmes were slightly injured in rallies in the capital, according to the same source.