PARIS (AP) — French authorities say they’re bracing for possible acts of sabotage and other violence when tens of thousands of protesters are expected to respond to online calls to disrupt the country on Wednesday, potentially compounding France’s latest political crisis triggered by the government’s collapse.
The “Bloquons Tout” (Block Everything) movement gathered steam on social media and in encrypted chats over the summer, before François Bayrou’s ouster as prime minister in a parliamentary confidence vote on Monday.
But its called-for day of blockades, strikes, demonstrations and other acts of protest on Wednesday is now falling as President Emmanuel Macron — one of the movement’s targets — is hunting for a fourth prime minister in 12 months, a prolonged cycle of instability roiling the European Union’s second-largest economy.
Although ostensibly unrelated to the planned protests, the discovery of severed pigs’ heads — five of them written with Macron’s name — near nine Paris-area mosques on Tuesday caused additional unease, bearing possible hallmarks of previous suspected Russian-linked acts of attempted destabilization that have targeted France and other allies of Ukraine.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said that although investigations are still underway, “we cannot help but draw links with previous acts that happened, often at night, and which later proved to be acts of foreign interference.”
He said the depositing of pigs’ heads — near four mosques in Paris and five others in its suburbs — appeared to have been “carried out simultaneously, necessarily by several people.”
French authorities have characterized other suspected Russian-linked acts as being part of a sustained effort to sow discord, unrest and disinformation. Coffins left near the Eiffel Tower — some draped in the French flag and inscribed with the words “French soldiers of Ukraine” — in 2024 were linked by French authorities to Russian intelligence services. So, too, was an attack on a Holocaust memorial in Paris, daubed with blood-red hands.
‘Massive’ police deployment
The “Block Everything” movement, which has grown virally with no clear identified leadership, has a broad array of demands — many targeting contested belt-tightening budget plans that Bayrou championed before his demise — as well as broader complaints about inequality. Calls online for strikes, boycotts, blockades and other forms of protest on Wednesday have been accompanied with appeals to avoid violence.
French authorities said they were unsure how many people might take part Wednesday. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that as well as peaceful protests, “there are other actions that could be far more intense — blockages, possible acts of sabotage, acts that could be far more violent.”
Potential targets could include oil refineries, fuel stocks, train stations and ring roads, he said. He warned of “small groups that aren’t very numerous but which are very determined, very organized, very, very seasoned and are looking for violence.”
The police response would be “absolutely massive,” he said, with 80,000 police and gendarmes deployed to keep order, backed by helicopters, drones, and armored vehicles.
Paris transport authorities said Metro, train and bus services were expected to run largely as normal, with only moderate disruptions on some lines. Aviation authorities warned of possible disruptions and delays to flights.
‘It won’t be a riot’
The spontaneity of “Block Everything” is reminiscent of the “Yellow Vest” movement that rocked Macron’s first term as president. It started with workers camping out at traffic circles to protest a hike in fuel taxes, sporting high-visibility vests. It quickly spread to people across political, regional, social and generational divides angry at economic injustice and Macron’s leadership.
Fédérico Tarragoni, a researcher of protest movements at the University of Caen in Normandy, said “Block Everything” supporters appear to believe that protest marches aren’t effective and so are looking for more radical ways to attract Macron’s attention, including blockades and other tactics used by the Yellow Vests.
He described the planned security deployment as war-like. “They’re anticipating blockades of roads, banks, production sites, everything — and there will doubtless be some,” he said.
Wednesday’s protests will test the popularity of both Macron and the movement, he said.
“It won’t be a riot. And it won’t be the Capitol after the election of (Joe) Biden,” he said, referring to the mob that stormed the seat of the U.S. Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
“But it will be potentially unmanageable,” because of the possibility of blockades, he said. “Managing that with police forces isn’t necessarily going to be easy.”
