During the demonstration against the vaccine pass this Saturday, January 8, a tear gas grenade launched by the police landed in an apartment in Lyon, without causing any casualties.
Few overflows, but a notable incident. More than 2,000 people gathered, according to the authorities, in the afternoon this Saturday, January 8 on Place Bellecour in Lyon, to protest against the health pass. During an exchange of projectiles, a tear gas grenade launched by the police fell in an apartment in the 1st arrondissement.
Several processions
In Lyon, the main point of demonstration brought together people responding to the call of the collective “Lyon for freedom”, and was then to join the courthouse. The demonstrators, of all ages and mostly unmasked, marched in a friendly atmosphere. Among them, some “yellow vests”, tricolor flags and a red from the CGT. Slogans denouncing “social apartheid” and boos against President Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister punctuated the demonstration. Another procession, bringing together about fifty “yellow vests” gathered in place Sathonay (1st arrondissement), while the collective “against coronafolie”, reputed to be close to the movement of Floriant Philippot, gathered less than 200 people according to our colleagues from the Progress, place Ambroise Courtois (8th arrondissement).
Tear gas lands in an apartment
If the demonstrations did not give rise to major outbursts, the police nevertheless resorted to punctually firing tear gas canisters. One of them landed in an apartment shortly before 3:30 p.m. on rue Romarin. According to the Rhône prefecture, “the police were responding to projectiles sent by demonstrators when the incident occurred. They then immediately intervened to rescue the residents concerned.” Contacted, the Rhône firefighters indicate that they were also contacted for this incident, but that their intervention did not require victim support. It is not known who occupied the apartment during the incident, although on Twitter, a witness mentioned the presence “of a woman and children”, information that France 3 is not able to confirm.
?LYON?
During the demonstration against the vaccine pass, the police fired tear gas in an apartment, in which there was, according to initial information, a woman and children. No confirmation on possible injuries for the moment https://t.co/P0HuE8Oa9S pic.twitter.com/r3oqHIyRT3– sylvie m (@ cherielle100) January 8, 2022
Low mobilization in France
At the end of the day, the demonstration dispersed in Lyon. In many cities in France, several demonstrations against the vaccine pass project were announced this Saturday, and went smoothly (except in Paris, where overflows were reported at the end of the day), with a mixed mobilization, a few days after the controversial statements of Emmanuel Macron on the unvaccinated expressed in an interview given to the Parisian. Emmanuel Macron created an uproar on Tuesday by declaring to have “very want to piss off” the unvaccinated, in “limiting for them, as much as possible, access to activities of social life “. Words he said he assumed “totally” Friday. The demonstrators are also opposed to the bill aimed at transforming the health pass into a vaccination pass. Adopted by the deputies on Thursday, this measure must pass before the Senate next week.
The authorities had counted 121,000 demonstrators against the vaccination and the health pass throughout the country on September 11, and some 237,000 participants on August 7.