As many people from all sides have noted, why are the armed forces even using those rubber pellet grenades? They've been consistently causing life changing injuries each time they've been used against the activists, along with the robust nature of the armed forces. The even robuster targetting of leaders has just upped the ante - I question why the authorities are just escalating the mood of unrest when the protester numbers were waning a few weeks back and it was turning into an uncoordinated damp squib.
Destruction of property is very much not on, as I'm sure everyone will agree.
The French Police/Security forces have been getting attacked themselves with rocks/Bricks/Bottles+ as missiles, Molotov cocktails, burning Police vehicles (a quick Google has flagged 3 such attacks this weekend) etc so violence on both sides has been met with violence (ie. descriptions of certain protests as "battlegrounds"). That would be why rubber pellet grenades are being used. Also, potentially linked the leader of the National Assembly, a Macron ally had his holiday home in Brittany firebombed.
Some of the early protests involved criminal damage/violence etc (especially in Paris) and the security forces held off but that didn't stop the violence escalating from the protestors. What would you suggest the Security forces do when facing an element* hell bent on criminal damage and attacking the Police with weapons/firebombs etc of their own? Or should the Security Force members allow the violence by this element to go unchecked and allow them to carry on attacking businesses with criminal damage etc (which the criminal damage has happened week in, week out)?
Plenty of Police/Security Force members have been put in hospital by attacks from protestors but you don't hear about that so much in the media and risk life threatening injuries themselves; imagine having a molotov cocktail explode over you which has happened. Also, reporters don't tend to write about the policing at peaceful protests.
Here's a Reuters article which talks about the violence from both:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...s-as-yellow-vests-keep-marching-idUSKCN1PY0GA
Another:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...val-Yellow-Vest-activists-fighting-Lyon.htmlA. This talks about 'Yellow Vests' groups fighting each other and the Police having to split them up. Apologies for the DM link but it had the video of the violence.
Also according to the Reuters report, it was a teargas grenade, not a rubber pellet greande as suggested by the BBC, that was used when the protestor had his fingers blown off. This was at a protest when other reports say protestors where trying to forcibly enter the National Assembly (the Police managed to stop them climbing over the fence protecting it) and I very much doubt it would have been for a non violent/criminal damage free sit in had they got in, considering they were graffiting the outside as it was.
I'm not surprised the Security Forces are targeting activists leaders. The reports I just googled all mention those involved as part of violent protests with one arrested with a wooden baton as a weapon on him. Are you suggesting the Police should give them a free pass and allow them to be violent?
Also, the French do have a reputation/history of violent protest and equally a violent response by the Security Forces so it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.
*I am not suggesting everybody protesting are of this mindset but there is a decent sized group hell bent on creating violent clashes.
+ Anything to hand or what the 'violent' protesters can generate from criminal damage.