French Police Arrest Key ‘Yellow Vest’ Figure, Signaling Crackdown Eric Drouet was arrested in Paris for organizing an unauthorized demonstration
https://www.wsj.com/articles/yellow-vest-leader-arrested-signaling-crackdown-on-protests-11546523102
French authorities arrested a key “yellow vest” protester for organizing an unauthorized demonstration, signaling a crackdown on a movement that has upended the agenda of President Emmanuel Macron.
Police held Eric Drouet on Wednesday evening near the Champs-Élysées, the glitzy avenue that has become a magnet for protests by the yellow vests—or gilets jaunes—over the past two months. He was leading a commemoration of yellow vests who have died since the movement began, mainly hit by cars inadvertently as they protested at roundabouts around the country.
A truck driver from the Parisian suburbs, Mr. Drouet had created a Facebook page that sparked the antigovernment protests in November.
“The arrest and detention of Mr. Drouet is completely unjustified and arbitrary,” Mr. Drouet’s lawyer said in a statement Thursday.
The coming weeks will test whether Mr. Macron’s government can stop the protests, which have slowed the French economy and are undermining his plans for a free-market overhaul of the country. Participation waned during the holiday season, but yellow vests are organizing new demonstrations this Saturday in Paris and elsewhere that appear set to attract thousands of people.
Hundreds of protesters continue to camp out at roundabouts across the countryside.
The first protest on Nov. 17 drew more than 250,000 people. While participation has fallen steadily since—dipping below 100,000 on recent weekends—the intensity of the demonstrations escalated sharply in early December. Rioting and clashes with police left some of the most upscale neighborhoods of Paris dotted with burning cars and shattered storefronts. Police have arrested thousands of protesters, straining the French justice system.
The government has struggled to contain the grass-roots movement, which has no organized leadership and has refused to declare demonstrations to the authorities as required by French law.
Mr. Drouet has emerged as one of its most high-profile members, appearing in the media frequently and calling for protests on Facebook. Mr. Drouet called for Wednesday evening’s commemoration, giving the authorities an opening to detain him.
After being released from custody on Thursday, Mr. Drouet said the gathering was not a protest.
“We didn’t have our yellow vests,” Mr. Drouet told reporters. “We didn’t go into the street, we stayed on the sidewalk.”
A judge will consider his case at a public hearing next month, Mr. Drouet’s lawyer said.
The movement has forced Mr. Macron to reverse course on some key policies, including the suspension of a new fuel tax that prompted the protests. Raising the purchasing power of France’s working class—a main demand of the yellow vests—has vaulted to the top of the political agenda.
Mr. Macron’s concessions have helped drain some public support for the yellow vests, but polls late in December showed they retained the backing of 70% of the French public.
Many yellow vests are pushing for further concessions, such as the reimposition of France’s wealth tax. Mr. Macron repealed the wealth tax for all assets except real estate in an effort to encourage investment in the French economy.
Others want the yellow vests to run candidates in the coming European elections. A recent poll by Harris Interactive found that nearly 50% support that possibility, with backing strongest by voters on the far left and the far right.
On Thursday, one of Mr. Macron’s closest advisers, Sylvain Fort, said he was resigning for personal reasons. Mr. Fort worked on the president’s election campaign, helping craft the message that launched the former investment banker to a surprise victory. But as communications adviser at the Élysée Palace, Mr. Fort couldn’t halt Mr. Macron’s steady fall in popularity, culminating in the rise of the yellow vests.
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