Prominent yellow vester hit in eye as counter-protests held in Paris

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Europe

01:13

A prominent French anti-government Yellow Vest activist, badly injured in the eye at a protest, was struck with one of the controversial rubber bullets used by police, his lawyer said on Sunday.

Jerome Rodrigues' lawyer fears he will be "handicapped for life" after he was injured in clashes with police in Paris on Saturday during an 11th straight weekend of protests against President Emmanuel Macron.

Rodrigues, a 40-year-old construction worker, was placed in an artificial coma overnight after the incident at the Bastille monument in central Paris.

'Red Scarves' and 'Blue Vests' launch counter-protests

Meanwhile, hundreds marched through Paris wearing red scarves on Sunday to protest the unrest that sometimes plagued the Yellow Vest movement as the "Red Scarves" and "Blue Vests" launched joint counter-demonstrations.

The Yellow Vests have paralyzed much of the country with road blockades and street protests in the capital and other cities for 11 consecutive Saturdays.

Opponents of violence at "yellow vest" marches take part in a demonstration by the "Red Scarves" movement in Paris, January 27, 2019. /VCG Photo

With slogans like "Enough!" and "End the violence," the Red Scarves, the Blue Vests and the "STOP, that's enough now" movements first surfaced at the end of last year to counter the Yellow Vest protests that had upended weekend traffic and resulted in the worst rioting in Paris in decades, costing taxpayers millions of euros.

At first, the movements were mainly contained to social media networks, but as the Yellow Vest protests persisted into the new year, these alternative groups have joined forces to stage their first "anti-Yellow Vest" protest in Paris this Sunday – a day after the Yellow Vests' "Act XI" of nationwide demonstrations.

"We denounce the insurrectional climate installed by the Yellow Vests. We also reject the threats and constant verbal abuse [suffered by non-Yellow Vests]," they said in their joint manifesto.

On Saturday, nearly 10,000 people had ticked the participation box on the "#RepublicanMarchForFreedom" Facebook event page, and 27,000 people had said they were interested in going.

Yellow Vest leader hit in eye

The bearded Rodrigues, who has become a well-known figure in the "yellow vest" movement with 50,000 followers on Facebook, was live-streaming the protest on the website when he was hit.

Lawyer Philippe de Veulle said Rodrigues was struck with a "flash ball," referring to the 40-mm (1.6-inch) rubber projectiles used by French riot police.

Jerome Rodrigues, one of the leaders of the Yellow Vest movement, appears at a press conference at the Cochin hospital in Paris, January 27, 2019. /VCG Photo

The devices, which are not used in most European countries, have become deeply controversial in France since the protests began in November and have been blamed for dozens of serious injuries.

On Saturday, police using the bullets were for the first time deployed wearing body cams in a bid to increase transparency.

Rodrigues, speaking to LCI television from hospital, said he was also hit by a sting ball grenade, another controversial riot control device.

"Everything happened very quickly. They threw a grenade at me and I took a (rubber) bullet. I was attacked twice – a grenade to the foot, and the bullet," Rodrigues said.

His lawyer insisted he was not one of the "hooligans" who have been joining the weekly protests to cause trouble for police.

In the video, Rodrigues can be heard several times warning protesters to leave the Bastille area because hard-left "black bloc" agitators were coming to attack the police.

Witnesses picked up the projectile that struck Rodrigues and police are set to investigate the circumstances of the incident.

Source(s): AFP