The doors of a police station and a cultural center were set on fire on the sidelines of a demonstration once morest pension reform in Rennes this Friday evening.
Several hundred demonstrators opposed to the pension reform gathered in the city center of Rennes this Friday evening. Some of them attacked a police station, whose front door was set on fire. The fire initially started from garbage can fires, which were then brought closer to the gates of this police station.
“Thugs determined to fight it out”
The entrance door to the Couvent des Jacobins, a former religious place now transformed into a congress centre, was also set on fire. “Degradation and attacks” condemned by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
These degradations “by thugs determined to do battle are unacceptable. Full support for the police and gendarmes mobilized”, tweeted Gérald Darmanin.
The Minister of the Interior also affirmed that the perpetrators of these misdeeds would be prosecuted. The flames were extinguished following a few minutes, thanks to the intervention of a police water cannon.
The CRS 8 sent to Rennes
The demonstration, in the hyper-center of Rennes, makes it difficult for the police to intervene, because of the narrow streets. CRS 8, an elite unit specializing in urban violence, will be sent to Rennes overnight from Friday to Saturday, BFMTV has learned.
Demonstrations are taking place all over France this Friday evening, in opposition to the pension reform and in reaction to the decision of the Constitutional Council to validate, with regard to the Constitution, the main part of the text and in particular the postponement of the legal retirement age at 64.