An unauthorized demonstration against the pension reform quickly turned this Saturday into clashes between demonstrators and the police in Rennes. Trash fires, damage to storefronts and car fires punctuate the procession in the Place de la République sector.
The meeting was given in Rennes this Saturday at 2 p.m. Place de la République. After three quarters of an hour of assembly, the 1200 demonstrators identified by the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine (nearly 2000 according to the demonstrators) rushed on the quays towards the place of Brittany.
Determined to remain mobilized and to be heard in the face of “the intolerable position of a government that does not listen to them”, the demonstrators quickly found themselves facing the police. They had to turn back.
Quite quickly, young people, dressed in black and hooded, went to the head of the procession. Less than half an hour after the start of the demonstration, individuals began throwing projectiles, attacking bus shelters and the storefronts of banks. Vilaine car park, several cars were vandalized and one set on fire. A Mercedes like this Thursday, April 13.
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A Mercedes burned during the demonstration of April 15 against the pension reform in Rennes
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©P. Le Mat – FTV
In the Place de la République sector, the police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the demonstrators. The latter continued to attack storefronts and financial institutions such as a Groupama agency. premises of the Mercure hotel, rue Lanjuinais, were ransacked.
At 5 p.m., the prefecture announces the arrest of 8 people since the start of the rally. She reports that a mobile policeman was injured.
After clashes in the sector of the boulevard de la Liberté, the demonstrators joined the historic center and the place Sainte-Anne. Very quickly, the police water cannon is put into action.
At 7 p.m., the situation remained confused in the Place de Bretagne sector, between tear gas, use of water cannons to disperse demonstrators and violent arrests.
In a new report from the prefecture at 7:10 p.m., it is reported that “11 individuals arrested who will be presented to the judicial authority”as well as multiple damage including two burnt cars.
“Tear gas, water-throwing devices…” The prefecture justifies use “suitable and proportionate” strength in the face “to the violence and aggressiveness of several hundred grimés thugs, ultras and violent demonstrators”.820156
In a press release, Nathalie Appéré deplores “considerable damage” and ask the question “What will happen now? How far will this destructive madness go?” According to her, “The damage amounts to hundreds of thousands of euros”.
She asks the state to recognize “the particular situation of the city” and the “sustainability of the additional police resources deployed today” [la CRS 8, NDLR]. She also claims that “the damage suffered by our merchants must be recognized and taken care of. They must be supported in the ordeal they are going through, as in 2016, when we obtained from the government a system for compensating insurance deductibles”.
The day before, Friday evening, thugs attacked a police station by setting fire to its door. The Ministry of the Interior had immediately decided to deploy in the Breton capital, from this Saturday, the CRS 8, specialized in urban violence.