Damage took place in Rennes during the demonstration against the pension reform. The office of Renaissance MP Laurence Maillart-Méhaignerie was targeted on Wednesday afternoon by demonstrators against the government’s project, who tagged outside the premises and piled up garbage bags against the door.
A video circulating on social networks shows demonstrators throwing bags filled with garbage in front of the entrance to the permanence, crossed out with an inscription “no 64”, while they chant slogans hostile to Emmanuel Macron.
The MP, who publicly expressed her support for the reform project, confirmed these degradations and announced her intention to file a complaint. “Fortunately, my team was not in the premises”, located on the second floor of a building in the north of Rennes, and there was no break-in, she added.
Mortar fire against the police
The demonstration organized in Rennes as part of the eighth national day of action against pension reform was therefore once again marked by acts of vandalism and clashes with the police. Alongside the procession which demonstrated calmly, a group of “800 young people, including 400 ultras, have marked their journey with abuses”, lamented the prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine, Emmanuel Berthier. He denounced this violence, in particular against the security forces who came under mortar fire.
The public prosecutor of Rennes, Philippe Astruc, for his part indicated that 23 people had been arrested following the incidents. Among them, 18 were placed in police custody, including 15 for “participation in a crowd with a view to committing violence” and one for “violence against a person holding public authority”. Many businesses, such as a real estate agency or a beauty salon, were targeted by masked individuals, who tagged storefronts and smashed windows. They also targeted two hotels in the center of Rennes.
