Why Is No One Condemning France’s Excessive Force Against the ‘Yellow Vests’?

For the 23rd consecutive week, the “Yellow Vests” movement in France, aka “Gilets Jaunes”, took to streets on Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, with the use of police violence noticeably on the rise.

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The protests that first erupted by mid-November 2018 against a hike in fuel taxes that was later canceled by the government have been ongoing since then with protesters raising stakes to demand a new government.

Shocking footage has emerged from Paris and other French cities showing tense clashes between the police and the protesters.

Videos for police officers brutally beating protesters and firing tear gas toward them.

Two journalists have been reportedly arrested while covering the protests on Saturday. They were among tens of Yellow Vests protesters who were detained by police forces as well.

One video circulated social media showing freelancer Gaspard Glanz being arrested by police officers. French media reported his arrest came after he raised his middle finger to authorities.

On the other hand, other videos showed demonstrators who were chanting at police officers “Commit suicide, commit suicide!” on Saturday condemning them.

This is believed to come amid recent reports showed a worrying increase in suicide rates within police officers nationwide while the reasons are still not clear.

Meanwhile, the international media coverage of the protests has been in the spotlight. Coverage that could be described as poor and biased has been questioned by the Yellow Vests protesters and their supporters as the French mainstream media was seen reporting only the violence brought by protesters against police, while totally ignoring the police excessive use of force.

Mainstream media and even governments in the UK and around Europe have been criticized for staying silent and not condemning the French authorities response to protesters.