Today, France prepares for another round of demonstrations by the “gilet jaunes” (‘yellow vest)’ protestors who are fighting against rising fuel costs and President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies. The first protest blocked major roadways nationwide last Saturday resulting in two dead and 606 injured, Euronews reports.
On Friday night, a man wearing an explosive device demanded “yellow vest” protesters be given an audience by the French president.
The 45-year-old man was wearing a yellow vest and revealed the device at a car wash in a shopping centre in the town of Angers, in western France.
The protest movement quickly disavowed the man who surrendered at 10:40 pm after several hours of negotiations with police at the Espace Anjou shopping centre’s parking lot where yellow vest demonstrators gathered last week.
“There was a real risk, real danger, he had an explosive charge around his neck… This was not fake,” local official Bernard Gonzalez told AFP.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner tweeted that the man had threatened to use “unidentified explosive elements and tampered grenades”.
Angers. Félicitations aux équipes du RAID et au @Prefet49 qui ont neutralisé l'individu menaçant de se faire exploser. Prétendant agir au nom des "gilets jaunes", il disposait d'éléments explosifs non identifiés et de grenades trafiquées. Merci à nos forces qui nous protègent.
— Christophe Castaner (@CCastaner) November 23, 2018