These Pictures Show French Police Using Tear Gas And Water Cannons On Protesters

One person was arrested Saturday amid clashes in the French capital over rising fuel prices.

French police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters demonstrating over rising fuel costs in Paris Saturday morning.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Around 5,000 people turned out on the Champs-Élysées in the latest installment of a weeklong protest over President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

They want Macron to roll back taxes on diesel and gas, which his government claims were introduced to encourage the use of more eco-friendly forms of transport.

They have been dubbed the “gilets jaunes” — or “yellow vests” — because they wear the high-visibility vests that drivers in France have to carry in their cars.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Around 23,000 people protested across the country Saturday morning, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. Roughly 8,000 of those were in Paris — and the majority of those were on the Champs-Élysées.

This follows protests across France last Saturday that saw nearly 300,000 take to the streets. The week of unrest has left two people dead and more than 600 injured, the French interior ministry said Thursday.

Protesters erected barricades made of furniture, calling for Paris to be brought to a standstill.

Francois Guillot / AFP / Getty Images

As police pushed them back, they began to take up cobbles from the road and dismantle roadworks to create more barricades.

The street filled with tear gas as police tried to stop the protesters reaching the presidential Élysée Palace.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Dramatic pictures showed protesters protecting themselves from the jets of a water cannon.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Police dressed in riot gear were photographed holding protesters on the drenched street.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Macron’s popularity dropped to an all-time low this week amid widespread media coverage of the protests.

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Pollster BVA found that only 26% of people have a good opinion of the president, who took office last May. It also found that 72% of French people identified with the protesters, though just over half disapproved of the way they have demonstrated.

In response to the demonstrations, Macron is reportedly set to announce measures to make the so-called ecological transition “acceptable and democratic” Tuesday.

“We have received the message from the citizens. It invites us to go further. In order for the ecological transition, which is necessary, not to be socially unacceptable, it must be fair, equitable and democratic,” Élysée Palace advisers said Thursday.

“We must therefore mobilize all those who will make it acceptable, so as not to leave anyone behind.”