Another situation where the government totally ignores the messages of the protestors and moves to squelch any opinion or concerns that differs from its own, the Paris protestors are being faced with violence if they do not comply even though the protest have been peaceful. These large-scale trucking protests are showing that they are working, because they are forcing the government into drastic measures to end them, which shows the protestors have leverage, hopefully by the grace of God these brave people can stay banded together and bring about long needed change. As reported by the AP:
Police set up checkpoints into Paris on key roads and said they successfully stopped at least 500 vehicles from heading to the banned protest
PARIS (AP) — Paris police fired tear gas Saturday against a handful of demonstrators on the Champs Elysees Avenue who defied a police order by taking part in a vehicle protest against virus restrictions inspired by Canada’s horn-honking “Freedom Convoy. “
Police set up checkpoints into the French capital on key roads and said they successfully stopped at least 500 vehicles from heading to the banned protest, but a few dozen vehicles were able to slip in and disrupt traffic. Authorities fired tear gas as they demanded that the demonstrators disperse, some of whom climbed onto their vehicles in the middle of the road to create chaos.
Police handed out 300 tickets to motorists involved in the protest. Elsewhere, several protesters were detained amid a seizure of knives, hammers, and other objects in a central Parisian square.
Railing against the vaccination pass that France requires for people to enter restaurants and many other venues, protesters tried to weave toward Paris from the north, south, east and west, waving and honking at onlookers as they drove by. Some convoys sought to avoid police detection by traveling on local roads instead of the major highways leading into the capital.
Waving French flags and shouting “Freedom!” the protesters organized online, galvanized in part by truckers who have blockaded the center of Ottawa, Canada’s capital, and blocked border crossings to the U.S.
The French vehicle protest comes as months of demonstrations against French government vaccination rules have been waning.
To the north in the Netherlands, dozens of trucks, and other vehicles — ranging from tractors to a car towing a camping ban — arrived in The Hague to protest Saturday, blocking an entrance to the historic parliamentary complex.
Protesters on foot joined the truckers, carrying a banner emblazoned with the Dutch words “Love & freedom, no dictatorship.”
Police urged the protesters to move to a nearby park and warned the public about traffic problems.
By THOMAS ADAMSON
Mike Corder in Ede, Netherlands, contributed
