The Yellow Vests movement in France is still growing. Despite the police brutality, every week hundreds of thousands of French people march the streets throughout France. The violence against the protesters seems to work as a catalyst that wakes more and more people up. The situation turned into the second French revolution and the country is close to a breaking point.
Yellow Vests is a world wide movement
The Yellow Vests movement is making momentum as a world wide protest against the globalists, the oppression and exploitation of the people. In Europe there have been protests in France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, United Kingdom and Turkey, as well as in various countries outside of Europe like Canada and Australia.
In France the Yellow Vests movement is huge. Every week hundreds of thousands of people march the street. On January 19, 2019 it was the 10th week of protests. Demonstrations took place in more than 50 major cities throughout France. On Saturday January 26th there will be a series of demonstrations as well, the 11th week since November 17th, 2018. On Sunday there will be a pro-Macron demonstration. Hopefully this won’t lead to an escalation, as the Yellow Vests movement has a 70-80% support of the French people.
The mainstream propaganda media lies about the number of participants. They claim that in the past weeks throughout France 84.000 people participated. This is a blatant lie as the police admitted that they mobilized 80.000 police officers for the Yellow Vests protests. According to the French police syndicate of angry police officers (SFP: Syndicat France Police policiers en colère) in the past two weeks there was an average of 355.000 demonstrators per week.
Extreme police violence and disproportionate weapons
The mainstream propaganda media suggests that the demonstrators are violent and the police therefore needs to defend themselves with heavy armour and weapons. The truth is that the protesters are primarily peaceful and unarmed, where the police forces exhibit extreme violence against the people. The police forces are often the aggressors and there are many reports that they deliberately escalate a peaceful demonstration by attacking the crowd with tear gas and water canons, throwing hand grenades or shooting with LBD 40 guns, also known as the Flashball gun.
The injuries caused by these LBD 40 guns (the newer model) or Flashball guns (the old model) are comparable with war injuries one sees on the battle field. The mainstream media uses the euphemism ‘rubber bullet’ or ‘ball of defence’, but this projectile that is fired at 100 meters per second causes very serious injuries, mutilations in the face, (skull) fractures, brain injuries, organ failures and internal bleedings.
There have been more than 100 severely injured casualties and at least 10 deaths. The French police union SFP confirms that primarily the innocent bystanders are hit by this weapon and not the rebels and trouble makers. A few examples of the casualties of police violence:
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- On French TV a 19 year old girl spoke about how a Flashball fractured her jaw. She had 3 surgeries and since has a major scar at the side of her mouth, with additional surgeries to go in order to repair the damage.
Olivier Beziade after he was shut down by a Flashball. He is being kept in a coma because of a cerebral haemorrhage. - In the same TV show Antoine Boudinet, a young guy, told the reporter how he lost his hand after the CRS police (military police) had thrown a hand grenade into the crowd. His right hand was amputated. Several protesters lost their hand.
- At least 17 people lost their eye, as a result of being hit by a Flashball. One of the victims is a 15 year old girl.
- Several videos shot from different angles show how Olivier Beziade was fleeing from a tear gas attack and chased by a squad of CRS military police. He ran into a quiet shopping street and was of no threat to the police. He was shot by a Flashball, hit in the head an fell unconscious flat on his face. He is in coma ever since, suffers a cerebral haemorrhage and it is unclear whether he will ever recover. He is a father of 3 children and worked as a volunteer at the local fire brigade. He is one of many with severe brain injury that are in a coma.
Casualties after Acte 10 (the 10th week of Yellow Vests protests)
- 10 people died
- 1000 casualties among police
- 2000 casualties among protesters
- at least 17 people have lost an eye
- at least 4 people have lost a hand
According to Roman Light, a spokesperson for the Yellow Vests movement, these are conservative numbers. According to him there are at least 90 amputees, who have lost a body part or organ function.
Ombudsman and medical specialists demand ban on Flashball guns
These are just a few examples of the innocent victims that suffered unacceptable injuries, as a result of disproportionate police violence. They are scarred for life. There are a hundred of these stories. The journalist David Dufresne meticulously collects the statistics about these injuries. When he presented his results in a French TV show, he broke down in tears. (Link to his website with photo’s and graphs. Warning: very graphic images.)
Antoine Boudinet lost his hand during a Yellow Vests demonstration in Bordeaux.
These permanent mutilations appear to have been caused by LBDs and GLI-F4s guns. Never before in the Fifth Republic have we seen an extensive use of such weapons against the crowd. (…) It seems, however, that the mutilated victims are usually simple peaceful demonstrators found in the midst of the criminals. More often than not, the rioters, as a result of our methods, are not hurt or arrested. ”
the french police union of angry police officers (SFP) in an open letter to president Macron
Throughout France special interest groups and medical specialists, such as plastic surgeons specialized in facial transplantations, or neurosurgeons demand a ban on these weapons.
Amnesty International already wrote a letter to the French Minister of Internal Affairs in 2002, to refrain from using the Flashball guns. The minister almost immediately ignored this advice. In 2015 also the Defender of Rights called for a ban of this type of guns, given the serious injuries these weapons can cause, also for bystanders.
Fake political measures
Christophe Castaner, the French Minister of Internal affairs, lied in Parliament about the number of casualties as a result of the controversial LBD 40 / Flashball guns, by citing numbers from last year. “In the 81 judicial investigations into the use of flash-balls, there are four losses of sight.” In reality at least 17 people have lost an eye.
He responded to the controversy about the LBD 40 guns, by proposing a new rule that the cops who use them, should use their camera while firing the projectiles. These footages can be used in later lawsuits or for “educational purposes.” He proposed a bill against rioters, suggesting that those infiltrators are the main cause of violence.
The SFP police union insists on the restrain of the guns, even when the authorities commands to use them. They suspect that in cases when the camera will not register the situation that leads to the attack, cops are no longer covered and prone to legal claims.
Pressure within the police department
Several police unions raised questions about the orders from higher ups, commanding to shoot with the LBD 40 guns. But the pressure among the police is enormous and there is little to no room for critical questions or disobedience. The suicide level is sky-rocketing, already 11 police officers committed suicide since the beginning of this year. Many officers call in sick and many more are on the verge of a burn-out. Especially since they have to work long working days, 16 hours a day, 6 days a week, under extreme pressure from both sides of the conflict.
The police union SFP wrote an open letter to president Macron to renounce the violence and orders to attack, but Macron and his ministers won’t bulge. Macron tries to even escalate the situation by setting up different groups against each other. It looks like they are trying to create as many injuries as possible to set an example. This is a form of state terrorism.
In a way it would be best if the police would call in sick en masse, so the government and the control system will loose this layer of protection. Yet there are other violent groups that received helmets and LBD 40 / Flashball guns or iron bars. They are not part of the regular police, as they are often not wearing a uniform. They are chasing people down the streets like vicious bloodhounds, to attack anyone with a yellow vest.
It is unclear whether they are part of La BAC (La Brigade Anti-Criminalité), or a group of mercenaries. They are wearing masks. Nobody knows where they come from, who they are and if they are even French to begin with. These groups are extremely violent and try to cause as much damage as possible.
The victims are not necessarily standing on the front line. People are chased in the streets by police squads and mercenaries and even attacked while waiting for the bus to go home. Also women. There are several videos of a single woman being attacked by a dozen heavily armoured military police officers and beaten to mash. Even first aid volunteers and the press are attacked by either the CRS police, La Bac, or one of these mercenary groups. This is clearly against the Geneva convention.
France is reaching the breaking point
Thousands of demonstrators have been arrested, including a 13 year old girl. Their only ‘felony’ was that they demonstrated without the permission to protest, or being outside the restricted zone. When the people need permission to protest or voice their opinion, this is a clear sign that there is no real democracy. The French people are waking up en masse to the harsh reality of the oppressive control structure, that clearly will go to any length to protect the system.
I think we are getting close to the point where the elastic band in France will snap. I think there is a likely scenario that the military will step in when Macron decides to use live ammunition. There are reports of CRS police seen with semi-automatic weapons.
European army
This past week president Macron signed the Aachen treaty with Angela Merkel, paving the way for a European army. In the past few weeks a number of European tanks, with a European flag instead of a French flag, have been spotted in the streets of France. Many suspect that the masked BAC troops are mercenaries of this European army.
Just a few months ago a number of French generals wrote an open letter to Macron when he signed the Marrakesh treaty and accused him from treason and betrayal of the French people. A military coup is certainly a realistic scenario that could play out, given the serious situation France is in.
The Yellow Vests movement is no longer just a protest against ecotax, the increase of living costs or political positions. It is a revolt against the government. Macron and his stooges need to go. He does not seem to understand his position has become untenable by allowing this type of violence, in a desperate attempt to hold his position.
RIC: true democracy to bring power back to the people
Whatever happens next it will hopefully pave the way for a new political system of true democracy. Roman Light a spokesperson for the Yellow Vests movement is an advocate for the RIC (Référendum d’Initiative Citoyenne)that would give the people the right to initiate and propose laws and the right to initiate a binding referendum which could take a bill into immediate effect. The implementation of the RIC will change the political system from a representative system to a partisans system. The concept of RIC has become well known in just a matter of a few weeks. The majority of the Yellow Vests movement embraces this idea.
We do not need political representatives that clearly have not represented us in the past. We can speak for ourselves and take the lead. Maybe this is the most important message contained in RIC. We need to stop waiting until the politicians fulfill our demands, but create them ourselves and enforce them. Their system no longer works when we no longer play their game. We need to create our own set of game rules for our game.
Ella Ster* | bron: ellaster.nl
Editorial credit header image: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com
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