Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / French police receiving MILITARY SUPPORT as protests escalate

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French police receiving MILITARY SUPPORT as protests escalate · THE DAILY BRIEF

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Happening right now, more unrest in the streets of France
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  Speaker 1: as 70,000 police officers have been deployed to try to
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  Speaker 1: maintain order there. Several major cultural institutions, including the Louvre,
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  Speaker 1: are closed this weekend amid fears that they could become targets.
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  Speaker 1: Protests are also planned in at least five other countries
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  Speaker 1: across Europe today. Chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt is live in
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  Speaker 1: Paris with the very latest. Jonathan, what have you seen today?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Aisha, despite this filthy weather that we're in the
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  Speaker 2: middle of here in Paris, 110,000 people turned out for
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  Speaker 2: a huge march today. It was moved from the centre
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  Speaker 2: of Paris and from away from tourist monuments like the
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  Speaker 2: Arc de Triomphe.
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  Speaker 3: Behind me here.
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  Speaker 2: To the southeast edge of the city by the authorities,
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  Speaker 2: but that did not dim the determination of those 110,000
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  Speaker 2: people to get their message across loud and clear, clear,
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  Speaker 2: angry at falling education standards, angry at the rising cost
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  Speaker 2: of living. And we are now hearing that while the
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  Speaker 2: march was peaceful earlier today, there have now been some
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  Speaker 2: clashes at the end of that march. tear gas deployed,
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  Speaker 2: water cannon deployed. We'll see how that develops over the
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  Speaker 2: next few hours. Elsewhere in France, it's south of Paris
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  Speaker 2: in the city of Orléans. There were clashes too. Also
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  Speaker 2: in Marseille to the south, Nice in southern France and
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  Speaker 2: Bordeaux in southwest France.
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  Speaker 3: But these clashes that have.
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  Speaker 2: Just been developing here in Paris have been isolated so far.
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  Speaker 2: That largely in part because of the huge police presence. 70,000
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  Speaker 2: officers deployed nationwide and backed up this weekend by the military.
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  Speaker 2: That was not the case last weekend when we saw
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  Speaker 2: so much violence, so much damage done to so many businesses.
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  Speaker 3: But certainly the police operation... This.
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  Speaker 2: Weekend has been far more organized, far more efficient, but
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  Speaker 2: there are still many hours left in this.
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  Speaker 3: Day, Aisha.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, there are.
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  Speaker 1: Jonathan Hunt, thank you for being live there for us.
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  Speaker 1: We very much appreciate it. OK, for more, let's bring
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  Speaker 1: in Fox News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall.
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  Speaker 4: Ben, great to have you on this program.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you and I were watching this last weekend
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  Speaker 1: when the protests really turned violent and got really hairy
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  Speaker 1: at points. So much looting, massive amounts of looting and
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  Speaker 1: also just fires set on culturally historic buildings, Ben.
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  Speaker 4: They're obviously trying to prevent that.
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  Speaker 1: From happening this weekend with these 70,000 police deployed. What
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  Speaker 1: do you foresee happening tonight as now it's starting to
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  Speaker 1: get dark there?
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  Speaker 5: Well, look, sadly, and as Jonathan just said there, you know,
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  Speaker 5: as the night starts to fall, you do start to
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  Speaker 5: see some of the more violent elements within these protests
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  Speaker 5: kick off. And that's what we saw last week. And
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  Speaker 5: we saw looting. We saw attacks on police, attacks on civilians.
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  Speaker 5: And all week, we've heard stories of the thousands of
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  Speaker 5: shops that have been looted as well. You know, this
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  Speaker 5: is a group of people who are saying we want
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  Speaker 5: a different country and we want more. And yet they're
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  Speaker 5: destroying many of the businesses that make the country work.
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  Speaker 5: But so sadly, I think this is going to continue.
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  Speaker 5: And that is, say, a short term. I think there's
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  Speaker 5: a concern for the long term here as well. Look,
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  Speaker 5: We have seen protests around France for quite some time. 2018,
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  Speaker 5: the Gilets Jaunes. But what makes these protests so different
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  Speaker 5: is the different number of groups who are taking part
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  Speaker 5: in it. Yes, it started off as students about a
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  Speaker 5: month ago. And frankly, if you saw the videos they
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  Speaker 5: were releasing from schools, they deserve to be on the streets. Rats, cockroaches,
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  Speaker 5: ceilings falling down. So the students took to the streets.
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  Speaker 5: But that was hijacked. That was hijacked by a whole
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  Speaker 5: group of different parties, like the far-left groups, Islamist groups, pro-Palestinian,
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  Speaker 5: trade unionists, environmentalists, the gilets jaunes again, elderly, pensioners, workers, farmers.
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  Speaker 5: There are many, many people across France who are really
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  Speaker 5: upset with the government. and are basically saying the government
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  Speaker 5: isn't giving them enough. Now, the irony is the government
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  Speaker 5: has been giving them more than enough for many decades.
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  Speaker 5: France is a country that has one of the biggest
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  Speaker 5: social spending ever. It's got great security net under these people.
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  Speaker 5: And frankly, they're asking for more in a country that
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  Speaker 5: doesn't have the money. And so what we are going
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  Speaker 5: to see right now is a country that is rising
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  Speaker 5: up against the government and a government that can't give them,
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  Speaker 5: nor really should it give them what they want, because
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  Speaker 5: they just want to be given more.
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  Speaker 3: So this is fascinating.
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  Speaker 5: And I think it's going to continue for some time
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  Speaker 5: to come, particularly as we head into the next big
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  Speaker 5: election six months from now.
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  Speaker 1: I want to dig down into the groups in just
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  Speaker 1: a second, because the French president also called them out.
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  Speaker 4: But very quickly, Jonathan, just... In your observations, I.
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  Speaker 1: Mean, this reminds me so much of the George Floyd
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  Speaker 1: protests in New York City where all the looting happened
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  Speaker 1: and they were going after not just the Dior's and
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  Speaker 1: the Louis Vuitton's, but stores that were owned by immigrant families,
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  Speaker 1: you know, family owned businesses where they were just trying
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  Speaker 1: to get by people that these groups are supposedly supposed
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  Speaker 1: to represent.
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  Speaker 4: And yet they're stealing from them.
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  Speaker 1: So are you observing that there's anything to protect those
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  Speaker 1: family-owned businesses this time around?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we have seen hundreds, if not thousands of businesses
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  Speaker 2: throughout the city today that have boarded up. That is
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  Speaker 2: something that did not happen. It caught everybody unawares last weekend.
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  Speaker 2: But those businesses are very much prepared this time around.
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  Speaker 3: So, so many of them have boarded up. But I
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  Speaker 3: think to the wider point of that, Aisha.
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  Speaker 2: You have to split, you have to make a differentiation
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  Speaker 2: here between the thousands of protesters who who, as Ben
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  Speaker 2: was saying, they are angry about what are poor education standards.
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  Speaker 2: They are angry about what are rapidly rising cost-of-living consequences
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  Speaker 2: that they're having to deal with. And then those are
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  Speaker 2: the people who have a cause that they want to
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  Speaker 2: be heard. But then you get people taking advantage of that.
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  Speaker 2: That is where you get some of these far-left groups,
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  Speaker 2: which President Emmanuel Macron has said are trying.
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  Speaker 3: To destroy the republic.
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  Speaker 2: That's when they come in to cause chaos, to cause
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  Speaker 2: more and more problems for the government because they want
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  Speaker 2: that government to fall. And then you get the opportunists
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  Speaker 2: on top of that who are simply troublemakers, who want
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  Speaker 2: to come in, who want to steal, who want to
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  Speaker 2: cause violence, who want to set fire.
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  Speaker 3: So you have different groups.
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  Speaker 2: And the problem is, as night falls here, that's when
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  Speaker 2: those who want to cause trouble tend to come onto
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  Speaker 2: the streets a lot more. The police are far better
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  Speaker 2: prepared than they were last week, but we'll see what
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  Speaker 2: happens in the coming hours. Greg Poundcott, my colleague, by
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  Speaker 2: the way, is up in the thick of it in
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  Speaker 2: the Vansen area where the march wrapped up.
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  Speaker 3: You'll be talking to him next hour, so.
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  Speaker 2: He'll have a very clear idea of whether trouble.
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  Speaker 3: is about to burst out into the open again, Aisha.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and people are taking notice across Europe because these
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  Speaker 1: protests are spreading now. We're expecting even more in multiple countries, Ben.
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  Speaker 1: Here's a British ambassador talking about why it's so important
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  Speaker 1: to control the borders.
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  Speaker 4: Watch this.
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  Speaker 6: I think the scenes in France have troubled everybody who's
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  Speaker 6: seen them and, you know, taking violence to the streets
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  Speaker 6: is not acceptable in any of our democracies. And on immigration,
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  Speaker 6: all of our countries... I think, accept that we face
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  Speaker 6: a challenge of illegal migration and we have to have
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  Speaker 6: control of our borders. But in the UK, we would
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  Speaker 6: say that we are taking action. Net migration in the
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  Speaker 6: UK is down 82%. Ben, do you.
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  Speaker 4: See a change coming in the UK?
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  Speaker 5: Well, I mean, it depends which party is in control,
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  Speaker 5: to be honest. But certainly, the conservatives on the right
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  Speaker 5: want a big, big change. They want to start sending
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  Speaker 5: immigrants who have dual nationality and committed crimes, for example,
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  Speaker 5: back home, which is something the current government doesn't want
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  Speaker 5: to do. But yes, there has been a focus on
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  Speaker 5: immigration throughout this. And in fact, the head of the
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  Speaker 5: opposition here in the UK looked at France and said
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  Speaker 5: that is a problem because of immigration. And in Paris,
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  Speaker 5: many of the people who are protesting, all the violent protesters,
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  Speaker 5: tend to come from the banlieue. And these are the
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  Speaker 5: poor areas around Paris where many immigrant families live. And
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  Speaker 5: one of the things that the head of the opposition
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  Speaker 5: in the UK was saying is, look, of course there's
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  Speaker 5: great immigration people who work hard, but there's an immigration
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  Speaker 5: of some people who come to the country and they
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  Speaker 5: don't have a national identity. And she said that was
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  Speaker 5: a key issue. You come to the country, you expect
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  Speaker 5: to be given a lot, and you don't understand what
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  Speaker 5: the country stands for. And she also said many of
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  Speaker 5: these countries, you're living in this sort of post-colonial idea
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  Speaker 5: where they are being taught when they're young that the
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  Speaker 5: country itself is racist because of the colonial history, because
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  Speaker 5: of the past. And again, you see it around the world.
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  Speaker 5: You see it in America where you look back at
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  Speaker 5: the past of a country and you're teaching some people
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  Speaker 5: in the country to say, well, actually, no, the country
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  Speaker 5: is at fault. The country is to blame. The country
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  Speaker 5: was racist. And so there's this underlying conversation here about
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  Speaker 5: whether immigration is behind this or whether the education system
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  Speaker 5: for immigrants who are coming into a country is. which
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  Speaker 5: should perhaps teach them to embrace the country and understand it,
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  Speaker 5: is teaching them something different. So, again, as Jonathan pointed out,
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  Speaker 5: it is a small minority of people who are committing
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  Speaker 5: the violent acts and looting shops, but there is this
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  Speaker 5: underlying cause of immigration which does play a part of
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  Speaker 5: it to a certain degree.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll see if the French police can control the
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  Speaker 1: protests this time around. Last weekend, it was horrifying, the
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  Speaker 1: scenes we were watching live here on this program. Jonathan
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  Speaker 1: Hunt and Benjamin Hall, couldn't think of two better people
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  Speaker 1: to have on this story and to have on this
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  Speaker 1: show today. Thank you very much for taking some time
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  Speaker 1: and joining us.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks.