six demonstrators were arrested at the end of Emmanuel Macron’s eventful visit

The first day of the Agricultural Show was marked by clashes between police and farmers, when the latter forced entry on Saturday morning, just as the Head of State was beginning his visit.

“The show is a moment of celebration, not a place where we come to make violent demands.” The Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, reported on Saturday February 24 six arrests of demonstrators during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Agricultural Show. He evaluated between “300 and 400” the number of the most vindictive demonstrators. Among the 800 members of the police forces mobilized, eight injured were recorded, including two “a little more seriously affected”.

Laurent Nuñez clarified during a press briefing that three of the people arrested had been arrested for “violence against a person holding public authority”. The Paris police chief thanked the police for “their responsiveness” and has “deplored the violence shown by certain demonstrators”. Those arrested will be summoned later by the courts, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

“Extremely tense moments”

Furthermore, the Paris police prefect claimed to have banned, on Saturday afternoon, “300 Rural Coordination activists” the entrance to hall 4 of the exhibition center, where the head of state was then, to prevent them from coming “again in contact with the President of the Republic, to attack a public authority”. “I take full responsibility for this decision”did he declare. “We were able to ensure security” of the president, he continued, stressing that there had been “extremely tense moments”.

Laurent Nuñez affirmed that the police did not use tear gas: “With one exception, that of a mobile gendarme, thrown to the ground, attacked, who, to free himself, very briefly used a hand-held gas canister.” “It was the only case”insisted the prefect, adding that “the use of tear gas was completely prohibited”. The police have “bulwark of their body” to contain the demonstrators, he welcomed.