Rioting broke out next to Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb today as thousands of anti-government Yellow Vests demonstrated across France.
Tear gas, water cannon, flash ball guns and baton charges were used by Paris police at Les Invalides, where the body of the former French emperor and military leader lies in a sarcophagus underneath a golden dome.
‘There are hundreds of CRS riot police and gendarmes engaged, and they are being attacked,’ said an officer at the scene.
Riot police officer take position in front of the Invalides dome after a yellow vest demonstration, which is near to where Napoleon is buried
A man waves a French flag on January 19, 2019 in Paris during a demonstration called by the yellow vests
'Street medics' give assistance to injured protesters on January 19, 2019 in Paris during a demonstration called by the yellow vests
‘Thousands of demonstrators are in the area, and some are becoming very violent indeed. Everything is being done to protect Les Invalides.’
In previous weeks national monuments including the Arc de Triomphe itself have been vandalised during disturbances caused by the Yellow Vests, who are named after the high visibility motoring jackets they wear.
Today’s ugly scenes came on the 10th Saturday in a row of violence that now routinely reduces the capital city to a war zone.
There were 5,000 police and gendarmes standing by for trouble in the French capital, and it started in the later afternoon when a march reached Les Invalides.
‘Macron Resign’, the crowd chanted, as they called for President Emmanuel Macron to resign, throwing bottles
