ongoing intervention by law enforcement at the La Crem’Arbre ZAD

The gendarmes intervene at the La Crem’Arbre ZAD where activists mobilized against the construction of the A69 in Tarn are gathered, notes a journalist from France Bleu Occitanie present on site on Saturday February 10. In the morning on franceinfo, a member of the collective La Voie Libre said he wished “an informative gathering”, announcing that they had filed an environmental criminal summary for “stop criminal acts” in progress.

The activists’ installations which date from last Friday are dismantled, but the ZAD is not evacuated, specifies France Bleu. In a video posted by France Bleu, we can see a cloud of tear gas dispersing in a field. 15 tear gas grenades were fired, the gendarmerie confirmed to franceinfo.

170 gendarmes, including two squadrons of mobile gendarmes, are mobilized, said the gendarmerie. Facing them, 200 activists, Franceinfo learned from consistent sources. Some present “a hostile attitude”, according to the gendarmerie, which specifies that the arrivals of activists continue. At 11:45 a.m., the situation was under control, indicates the gendarmerie.

Furthermore, around a hundred people are still blocking the railway between Toulouse and Castres, according to the Tarn prefecture, reports France Bleu. In order to anticipate this mobilization, rail traffic was suspended this weekend and is not due to resume until Monday. The gendarmes were victims of projectiles when they tried to remove the barricades installed on the tracks.