Rennes: between 400 and 500 protesters against police violence, and as many policemen – Liberation

Defying the ban of the authorities, between 400 and 500 demonstrators gathered on Saturday afternoon in the center of Rennes “against police violence” . The security forces had in turn mobilized nearly as many men to identify the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, where protesters gathered, surrounded by shops with lowered or protected wood paneling grids. Students, members of the NPA or the Solidaires union denounced the wounds inflicted on their comrades in previous marches against the labor law, and legitimized significant damage occurred at Rennes in the night from Friday to Saturday.

“the violence meet the violence of the state, insecurity, the use of Article 49.3 to get the labor law, plus police violence” , Hugo judge Poidevin, member of the union of communist students. “Neither police nor 49.3″ , “Our children maimed by police, stop” or “precariousness of one is the power of the other” , t could be read on the signs of the gathering. Wearing glasses, scarves and hoods to protect against tear gas, demonstrators briefly clashed with the forces of order who have used grenades to repel the esplanade where the ranks dispersed.

the event was speaking the day after the evacuation of “the people’s house” occupied for twelve days by opponents of the El Khomri law, and an outbreak of violence in the night from Friday to Saturday.

in the city center, many stores had taken the lead by barricading themselves behind wooden panels. Several streets were completely closed by gates and four water cannons were placed in the center.

“The firmness is up a notch , said Saturday morning the prefect Acting Patrick Dallennes, at a press conference. The event will not take place. We are no longer in the context of opposition to the labor law, but in front of people who seek to attack the institutions and society. The remarks broadcast on the internet are of extreme violence with calls to murder against the police and intolerable slogans like “an equal shot a policeman”, directed against those who risked their lives, including in the November bombings Paris. “

demonstration against police violence in Rennes on Saturday. Photo Vincent Feuray for release.

“quick and savage action”

The prefect is also back on the events of the night, qualified shares “commando” with “urban guerrilla tactics” , which resulted in five arrests. “We had to make a very fast and wild action of thugs who had developed tactics and demonstrating current” , he said, estimating 300 the number of protesters.

tensions began Friday morning, with the evacuation, no major clashes, the Hall of the City, aka the “People’s House”. At 21:30, 200 to 300 masked or helmeted activists then came defy the security forces stationed near the hall, in the heart of the city. sprayed red paint on the security forces, neutralization of the Place Sainte-Anne surveillance cameras, protesters are then taken to the palisades of the subway construction site, where they are provided with beams and iron bars . And “armed”, they went to destroy several storefronts of businesses including mobile phone and bank branches. A police station was also targeted, as well as the town hall.

windows

After these scenes of violence, which lasted nearly a half hour, many people wandering the streets of downtown, busy every Friday night, were in shock. “This sucks,” let go, lapidary, an electronics student. But “ although I can understand that people are not happy, at least they do not take the small shops’ , he added. Near the police station to showcase riddled with iron bars of impacts, Helena, artisan leather worker, seemed distraught. “Instead of building their demands and stay in a smart dynamic, they ruined everything” , she lamented, pointing to the hooded people. “This is my city, it pisses me off that it is broken!” let go of his hand a young man, while the manager of a clothing store doors forced by protesters trying to assess the damage, before confessing his “fear” , for her and her seven employees. “I am an active supporter of a radical, but I also put myself in the place of merchants and I’m not in this movement” , confided, meanwhile, Pierre Malo, a student history of 22 years

Place du General de Gaulle in Rennes on Saturday during the protest against police violence. . Photo Vincent Feuray for Libération

“Last warning”

The walls of the city center were also widely daubed with slogans calling for the “revolt” or proclaiming: “this is our last warning.” references, too, to “49.3,” the article that allowed the government to pass the law work without first reading vote in the Assembly, or “100.3″, the wavelength of the pirate radio installed during its occupation in the “People’s House”.

the events stand in line parades against the labor law, which were whenever enamelled in Rennes but also in Nantes, particularly violent damage and clashes with security forces. On April 28, a student from Rennes lost an eye after being hit by a bullet in the face, a priori a flash ball ball.

“Rennes and Nantes are not intended to become breakers for a battlefield animated by hatred of the State and of the Republic “, reacted to his side, Friday evening, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who called for the strongest .

Pierre-Henri Allain Rennes, our correspondent