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[ Priscilla Ludosky ]I'm angry because the government's been taking us for a ride for years.
[ Jerome Rodrigues ]I'm angry because I don't think our kids will have a better life, it will probably be worse.
[ Ghislain Coutard ]I'm angry because I'm sick of the privileges of those who govern us.
[ Woman ]I'm angry because there's too much injustice in France!
[ Man ]I'm angry because of police brutality.
[ Man ]I'm angry because I'm fed up with Macron's dictatorship.
[ Maxime Nikolle ]This anger has existed for a while, and on the day
the line is crossed, there'll probably be another French Revolution.
YELLOW VEST FEVER
[ Priscilla ]I worked in a bank for 11 years, then switched to biocosmetics.
[ Priscilla ]I launched an online store that sells biocosmetic products in December 2017,
but in the months since our movement started, growth has slowed.
PRISCILLIA LUDOSKY
[ Priscilla ]The Yellow Vest movement began on May 29, 2018, after I'd posted a petition against the fuel tax hike.
[ Priscilla ]I began circulating the petition in September of 2018. After Le Parisien covered it, signatures rose sharply.
THIS SEINE-ET-MARNE NATIVE SAW THE NUMBER OF SIGNATURES ON HER PETITION JUMP FROM 10,000 TO
226,000 IN A MATTER OF DAYS. SHE DEMANDS THAT THE STATE CANCEL THE FUEL AND DIESEL TAX HIKE.
[ Priscilla ]I had media access, and I called a demonstration for November
17.A driver who was helping spread the word shot a video and put it
on Facebook. In it, he said he was going to the November 17 rally and
asked the movement's supporters to put yellow vests on their dashboards.
[ GEO ] VINASSAN
[ Ghislain ]I'm a mechanic. I specialise in German cars, their electronic coding, and so on.
[ Ghislain ]My hands are always busy. My passion is stronger than me, I'm always fixing some car.
[ Ghislain ]I made the video that gave our movement its colour.
[ Ghislain ]I'm known as 'Vestman' or 'Father of the Yellow Vests'.
GHISLAIN 'VESTMAN' COUTARD
[ Ghislain ]I saw there were a few videos about taxes on the Angry France Facebook page calling for a
demonstration on November 17, and I decided to make
a video too. While recording, I had an idea: we all have
yellow vests in our cars in France, as they've been required for several years, and I thought it would
be a good colour code. They could be put on dashboards to rally as many people as possible for the 17th.
[ Ghislain ]If you support the movement, but can't come due to work, here's the yellow
vest you all have. Let's put it on our dashboards as a symbol on November 17.
[ Ghislain ]It all began with this simple vest. It's just a piece of cloth,
but it's generated quite a stir in France that's even spread abroad.
[ Ghislain ]I'll try to find a nice frame and create a small commemorative Yellow Vests shrine later.
NOVEMBER 17, 2018 FIRST YELLOW VESTS RALLIES
[ Priscilla ]It's made our movement more visible because we've got a specific colour and we're talking about the
fuel tax. It's all about cars, so when yellow vests began to appear on dashboards, people asked: What's this?
[ Priscilla ]We never imagined it would get this big. Maybe, only after it took off on Facebook.
[ Priscilla ]When we were asked how many people we thought would show up on the 17th,
we said: 'We don't know, but the Facebook group has 300,000 subscribers'.
ACCORDING TO THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR, THE FIRST YELLOW VESTS RALLIES WERE ATTENDED BY 280,000 PEOPLE
[ Ghislain ]I'm sure it was about a million, without a doubt. They said around 280,000, but I think we had a lot lot more.
[ Christophe Guilluy ]The intelligentsia and political class suddenly
realised France had a common people. This came as a big surprise to them.
[ СHRISTOPHE GUILLUY, WRITER ]It's as if they found a lost tribe in the Amazon Forest.
[ Priscilla ]There was violence from the start. At the first rally, they
used gas on a big crowd singing La Marseillaise on the Champs-Elysees.
[ Priscilla ]It was shocking, because we were being gassed and we hadn't done anything.
[ Priscilla ]We scattered on the Champs-Elysees, there was gas
everywhere. There were a lot of retirees. I guess they were shocked too.
[ Ghislain ]We'll never really know why it began, but everywhere I went,
everyone said the same thing: that law enforcement had initiated the violence.
[ MAXIME NIKOLLE, YELLOW VEST ]As for police brutality, I think there's a self-defence aspect.
[ Maxime ] If 200 people attack an officer, naturally, he defends himself… He fears for his life.
[ Maxime ]On the other hand, there are hundreds of videos where 5, 6, 7 officers beat
a woman lying on the ground, hit her head, shoot people from less than 5 metres away.
[ Christophe ]The culmination was the 3rd Act, the third Saturday, when protesters marched through the Arc de Triomphe.
[ CHRISTOPHE CHALENCON, YELLOW VEST ] I was there,
I have pictures, it was chaos. It was unthinkable to see such scenes in Paris.
[ Christophe ]Macron was scared… They'd already prepared a helicopter to evacuate
him from the Elysee Palace. The authorities were trembling at that point.
[ EDOUARD PHILIPPE, PRIME MINISTER OF FRANCE ]The government will take extraordinary measures to bolster the 65,000
police deployed across France. We'll continue to pursue flagrant violators of the law and bring them to justice.
[ Priscilla ]A lot of people have lost body parts during the demonstrations, a hand, for example.
[ Priscilla ]Some took rubber bullets in the cheek or eye.
[ Priscilla ]A recent case is that of Jerome Rodrigues.
[ Jerome ]I worked in senior sales positions for 20 years.
[ Jerome ]Today, I'm retraining as a plumber,
and I've joined the Yellow Vests as well.
JEROME RODRIGUES
[ Jerome ]It happened on Saturday, January 26. We were protesting.
[ Jerome ]Going to the Place de la Bastille, the black blocs are getting rowdy.
[ Jerome ]I was filming everything and streaming it live on Facebook. As I
stepped back to get out of the police's way, I was subjected to two attacks.
[ Jerome ]First, they threw a dispersion grenade at me, the one they use on crowds.
[ Jerome ]In the second attack, they shot me right in the eye with a non-lethal gun.
[ Man ] Doctor, doctor! [ Man ] He's bleeding, he's bleeding!
[ Jerome ]I understood I was a victim, and as I fell, I thought
to myself, pardon my language: F*** it, they've shot me!
[ Jerome ]And then… people… it was really
noisy… and it didn't hurt. But then…
[ Jerome ]I heard people screaming: 'They shot his eye out!' And… I felt
cold because I was lying on the ground… and it was taking such a long time.
[ Jerome ]They operated on me for five hours.
[ Jerome ]They… they reshaped my eye… the eyeball… because it was… like a balloon… that had burst.
[ Jerome ]They gave me 17 stitches.
[ Jerome ] It was difficult because they needed to reach the back side of the eye.
[ Jerome ] I can't see… I'll never see with it again.
[ ALEXANDRE LANGLOIS, SECRETARY-GENERAL VIGI POLICE UNION ]French police have LBDs that fire 'defensive bullets'.
[ Alexandre ]They're like a cross between a baton, a hand combat weapon, and a pistol with real bullets.
[ Alexandre ]For cost reasons, France didn't buy the manufacturer recommended ammo, but
a different kind of projectile that's less accurate and more dangerous in a direct hit.
[ Jerome ]This is a bullet from an LBD-40.
[ Jerome ]This is the bullet. That's what
hit me in the eye. It weighs 60 grams.
[ Jerome ]It goes 300 km/h. A direct hit to the head from a projectile
like this is nearly equivalent to a head-on car collision.
[ Emmanuel Macron ]I don't confuse ‘breakers’ with
citizens who just want to speak out. I understand these citizens,
but won't tolerate those who only want destruction and
unrest because a Republic is order and freedom of expression.
[ Jerome ]That's how Macron talks about democracy. That's President Macron's response
to us today in France when we want more… justice, human dignity, and equality.
[ GEO ]VINASSAN
[ Ghislain ]For me, the movement began with the fuel tax hike. The problem is that,
in October, when I made my video, fuel cost €1.34 - €1.36, if I remember correctly,
[ GHISLAIN COUTARD, YELLOW VEST ] and they were going to raise it to €1.50 in January 2019.
[ Maxime ]It may seem like nothing, but for people making under €1,000/month or
living below the poverty line, filling your tank is a big blow to the budget.
[ MAXIME NIKOLLE, YELLOW VEST ]They fail to consider
that people in rural areas need a car to do shopping, go to the hospital, etc.
[ Ghislain ]The problem in France is that life in small villages and rural areas and
life in big cities like Paris, with its subway and public transit, are incomparable.
[ Christophe ]The Yellow Vests movement was born in small and midsize rural towns. It's logical!
[ CHRISTOPHE GUILLUY, WRITER ]It's in these areas that people from less affluent classes live.
[ Jerome ]For 36 years, I lived in a Paris suburb where you met different peoples and
poverty everywhere. Unsanitary flats, no work, no money, the young people are bored, t
[ JEROME RODRIGUES, YELLOW VEST ] the police are engaged in repression… I also lived like this there.
[ GEO ] PARIS
[ Christophe ]France is still a wealthy country. The economic indicators from the last 30 years
show an increase in wealth, so it can't be said that France is collapsing economically.
[ Priscilla ]It's true if you compare our country with others where there is poverty, a lot
of poor people, and so on, then, of course, you might ask: 'What are you complaining about?'
[ Priscilla ]But when you live in a country, you better understand exactly what's going wrong at home.
[ GISLAINE CUTARD, YELLOW VEST ]Actually, wages aren't rising. The big
problem in France is that wages are stuck. There's no growth, but the cost of living keeps rising.
[ JEROME RODRIGUES, YELLOW VEST ]I've got nothing against the rich,
they can make their money, but they shouldn't be getting richer on the backs of the poor.
[ Ghislain ]My wage currently is €1,850, but
then my salary gets whittled away. Renting a flat
costs €750. Fuel, on average, is €200. So, at
the end of the month, there's not much left over.
ON NOVEMBER 27, 2018, FRANCOIS DE RUGY, FRENCH MINISTER OF ECOLOGY RECEIVED A YELLOW VESTS DELEGATION
IT WAS THE FIRST TIME PROTESTERS SAT DOWN WITH THE AUTHORITIES
[ Priscilla ]So, we presented them with 3 key demands. One concerned a tax cut on
essential goods and services. The 2nd called for referendums on citizens' initiatives
by which we could participate in making decisions for the country. The 3rd demand
was to reduce the wages of high-ranking officials and revoke their benefits.
[ FRANCOIS DE RUGY, FRENCH MINISTER OF ECOLOGY ]The
two pages of demands they gave us go far beyond issues of
ecological transition. The discussion was very amicable
and open. We covered everything they wanted to talk about.
[ Priscilla ]I think the meeting with the environmental minister was purely for
form. It was like: 'We've received you, you're happy, thank you, goodbye'.
THE TALKS BETWEEN THE AUTHORITIES AND THE YELLOW VESTS ENDED WITHOUT AGREEMENT, THE PROTESTS HAVE CONTINUED
[ Ghislain ]Can't forget to put the vest up, for the colour. It's very important to show solidarity… that I'm part of the movement.
[ Ghislain ]We're going to join the Yellow Vests in
Toulouse. In Toulouse, it ends in clashes every Saturday.
[ Ghislain ]I haven't been there yet, but those who have, have come back with injuries. They really got their butts kicked.
[ GEO ] TOLOUSE
[ Man ] Are you tired? [ Crowd ] No, we’re not!
[ Singing ] Emmanuel Macron! You're an a****le!
[ Singing ]We've come for you! Emmanuel
[ Singing ]Macron! You're an a****le! We've come for you!
[ Ghislain ]Uh-oh, people are running.
[ Ghislain ]That's how the cops planned it, they're forcing us to the capitol.
[ Ghislain ]These are BAC, the meanest of the police. They're
usually in civilian clothes, but they put on helmets for riots.
[ Ghislain ]We can't see their faces. They're just like hooligans, only with
badges. They have carte blanche, and they're free with their clubs.
[ Priscilla ]The riots break out at the end of demonstrations. There are
people who come specially to fight and this happens at every rally.
[ MAXIME NIKOLLE, YELLOW VEST ]It's hard to tell who's a breaker. At
the Act 3 and 4 rallies, I wore a respirator, goggles, and hard hat, but I didn't break anything.
[ Alexandre ]Breakers are tricky. They hide their faces with balaclavas, masks, etc.
[ Alexandre ]As soon as the police turn to them, they hide behind their yellow vests.
[ Alexandre ]They run away, and when the police react, we can't find them…
[ ALEXANDRE LANGLOIS, SECRETARY-GENERAL VIGI POLICE UNION ] It's very difficult.
[ Priscilla ]I once talked to a senior police officer on the Champs-Elysees,
and I said: ‘It's very strange! You see the breakers, we all did,
[ PRISCILLIA LUDOSKI, YELLOW VEST ]they’re dressed differently. Why don't you detain them?’ And he did this…
[ JEROME RODRIGUES, YELLOW VEST ] Maybe allowing this violence
is part of the government's game to show the Yellow Vests as bad and discredit us. A
lot of police were upset by what happened to me. Some even came to say a few words of
support. A few frankly admitted that sometimes they're ordered to let the riots proceed.
THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR DECLINED TO COMMENT TO RT ON THE SITUATION
[ GEO ] TOLOUSE
[ Ghislain ]There's a breaker, a breaker!
[ Ghislain ]Oh, flash ball!
[ Woman ]Stop protecting them!
[ Ghislain ]Well, on the whole, it went pretty well. It's still not finished, but so far, not bad.
[ Ghislain ]No surrender, no retreat. We fought through the winter and, with warmer days, we'll show even more determination.
ON DECEMBER 10, 2018, FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON ANNOUNCED CONCESSIONS TO PROTESTERS:
1.THE MINIMUM WAGE WILL BE RAISED BY €100 PER MONTH, FROM 2019.
2. OVERTIME PAY WON’T BE TAXED 3. RETIREES WHO MAKE LESS THAN €2,000 WON’T HAVE TO PAY SOCIAL TAX
[ Maxime ]The problem is that this €100 raise was actually an increase in the
employment bonus that not everyone gets, because not everyone's eligible.
[ Priscilla ]It's only a small part of the population, they didn't give €100 to everyone.
[ Jerome ]It's all a lie, this tax issue… He revoked it, so what? Are the French living any better? No, nothing's changed.
[ Priscilla ]The media now says the movement's fading, nothing's happening, but there's actually a lot going on, only differently.
[ Priscilla ]At first, there were only protests, roadblocks, etc. Today,
we have debates, assemblies, and meetings, in addition to demonstrations.
[ Priscilla ]Why don't we trust politicians and let them decide for us? They've
lied to us for years. They do what they're told, not what they're elected for.
[ Ghislain ]Today, the movement remains active thanks to social networks. In fact, the main gatherings are now
on Facebook. We manage to organise thanks to social networks. Without them, I don't think we'd be as organised.
THE YELLOW VESTS SET UP CAMPS ALONG STRATEGIC ROADS ACROSS FRANCE
THAT’S WHERE ALL THE ACTION TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE PROTESTS
[ VINCENT LEDUC, YELLOW VEST ]Today, we're here because Jerome Rodrigues
is on his way across Oise and he's supposed to pay us a visit.
[ Vincent ] Hi Jerome! [ Jerome ] Hi, how are you? [ Vincent ] Very well, welcome
[ Vincent ]For us, Jerome isn't a celebrity. He's one of us, and that matters a lot.
[ Jerome ]I'm here to meet people, to talk, to exchange views, to see what's happening at the camps.
[ Jerome ]So, why not regroup and get back to our core demands and why we're out on the streets today.
[ Jerome ] I don't pay in cafes anymore. They give me coffee on the
house.[ Vincent ] That could get uncomfortable.[ Jerome ]Well, if it's only coffee...
[ Jerome ]I'd say I've become a poster boy. One of the most recognisable faces.
[ Jerome ]People listen to what I have to say more now, but there's no leader, I'm not a leader.
[ CHRISTOPHE GUILLUY, WRITER ]The special thing about this movement is that it really
doesn't have a leader, no political party, no ideological figure, no trade union.
[ VINCENT LEDUC, YELLOW VEST ]With leaders, one can control groups and people. When a political
system or the media gain control over a subject or person, they can twist it into whatever they want. I hope this won't
happen to Jerome, and I don't believe it will. Though there is a risk, because when he came here today, we didn't receive him
like other Yellow Vests. Everyone flocked around him. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's something to beware of.
[ Maxime ]When will we stop? I think when there's no more people suffering from poverty in this country.
[ Ghislain ]I hope the president will eventually come out of his bunker
and begin to solve problems. Until there's complete trust, we can't stop.
[ Jerome ]How can we trust a president who shot at us? It'll be very
very difficult. There's a lot of work to do before we head home.
[ Christophe ]There's no turning back. There's only pre-November 17th, and post-November 17th.
[ Priscilla ]We've created something, a display of solidarity. Now we have citizens'
assemblies and meetings to work on a citizens' referendum, and this isn't going away.
[ Christophe ]Whether the movement grows or transforms, politically or otherwise, it doesn't matter.
[ Christophe ]The Yellow Vests won because now we know there is a common people in France.