Macron tours damaged Arc de Triomphe after Paris hit by riot

Police said 133 people were injured and 412 had been arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the French capital.

President Emmanuel Macron has visited the graffiti-damaged Arc de Triomphe monument and held an emergency meeting on security, a day after central Paris was hit by France’s worst riot in a generation.

Mr Macron, who met with his prime minister and interior and environment ministers, has vowed that those responsible for the violence and the damages will pay for their actions.

Mr Macron paid tribute to the Unknown Soldier from the First World War whose tomb is under the monument.

He then headed to a nearby avenue where activists wearing yellow jackets had torched cars, smashed windows, looted shops and battled police on Saturday.

Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with a firefighter the day after a demonstration in Paris — Mr Macron shakes hands with a firefighter (Thibault Camus/AP)

Paris police said 133 people had been injured and 412 had been arrested as protesters trashed the streets of the capital during a demonstration against rising taxes and the high cost of living.

Charred cars, broken windows and downed fences from the riot littered many of the city’s most popular tourist areas, including major avenues near the Arc de Triomphe, streets around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue, and the Tuileries garden.

A hooded demonstrator throws an item as a car burns during a demonstration in Paris — A demonstrator throws an item as a car burns in Paris (Thibault Camus/AP)

Activists wearing yellow jackets had thrown rocks at police and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi-coloured graffiti.

French police responded with tear gas and water cannon, closing down dozens of streets and Metro stations as they tried to contain the riot.

Police said 23 police officers were among the injured and 378 of the arrested have been put in police custody.

By Sunday morning, Paris city employees were cleaning up the graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe.

Demonstrators stand by the words 'The yellow jackets will triumph' written in big black letters at the base of the Arc de Triomphe — Demonstrators stand by the words ‘The yellow jackets will triumph’ written in big black letters at the base of the Arc de Triomphe (Kamil Zihnioglu/AP)

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said Saturday’s violence was due to extremists who hijacked the protest, people who came “to loot, break and hit police forces”.

He was asked why thousands of French police could not prevent the damage, especially to the Arc de Triomphe.

“Yesterday we made a choice … to protect people before material goods,” Mr Griveaux told French broadcaster BFM TV.

It was the third straight weekend of clashes in Paris involving activists dressed in the yellow vests of a new protest movement and France’s worst urban violence since at least 2005.

A woman takes a photo of charred cars the day after a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris — A woman takes a photo of charred cars near the Arc de Triomphe (Thibault Camus/AP)

“It’s difficult to reach the end of the month. People work and pay a lot of taxes and we are fed up,” said Rabah Mendez, a protester who marched peacefully on Saturday in Paris.

The demonstrators say Mr Macron’s government does not care about the problems of ordinary people.

The grassroots protests began on November 17 with motorists upset over a fuel tax hike but now involve a broad range of demands related to France’s high cost of living.

Mr Macron, speaking in Buenos Aires before he flew home, welcomed the views of the protesters but said there was no place for violence in public discourse.

“(Violence) has nothing to do with the peaceful expression of a legitimate anger” and “no cause justifies” attacks on police or pillaging shops and burning buildings, Mr Macron said.