French Riot

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Europe is dying.  What once was will never be.  We are just not sure how history will record it.  Will it be death by debauchery?  Death by socialism?  Or death by Islamic jihad?

The cost of living, due to the leftist policies of the French Government, coupled with the high cost of fuel and taxes, has convinced the protesters that it is time to get violent.  With cars aflame, riot police and the revolutionaries clashed.  At one point a rifle was taken by the protesters from law enforcement.  

Clouds of tear gas blanketed Paris streets as smoky billows from the flames rose above the city.  Over 5,000 protesters have been raging for two weeks, reminiscent of the 1960s when France nearly plunged into civil war.  It began with the Yellow Vest fuel price demonstrators, but as all moments of violent insurrection always has, others have joined in, be it people who just want to loot, or those who do indeed believe in the cause.  There have been hundreds of arrests, over a hundred injured, and nearly two dozen law enforcement personnel hurt.

As the madness raged, looters broke into businesses. Riot police sprayed tear gas, fired water cannon and stun grenades and pulled out their batons to fight back against 'Yellow Vest' protesters who occupied the city as the looters looted, and famous architecture was sprayed with graffiti. 

The rallies have not been confined to Paris.  Protests have emerged around the country, spreading to Marseille, Biarritz and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast and even into the Netherlands.  The rioting is being viewed as a direct challenge to Emmanuel Macron's presidency.  The violence has gotten so bad that law enforcement is asking for Macron to call in the military.  The spreading of the news of a beating of one particular lone protester by law enforcement has only encouraged more defiance, more rioting, and more anti-government chaos.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary