No, it’s not a reference to the Arkhaven comic book, but actual events in Paris:
French police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Paris on Saturday, as thousands gathered in the capital and beyond and staged road blockades to vent anger against rising fuel taxes.
Thousands of police were deployed nationwide to contain the eighth day of deadly demonstrations that started as protests against tax but morphed into a rebuke of President Emmanuel Macron and the perceived elitism of France’s ruling class. Two people have been killed since Nov. 17 in protest-related tragedies.
Tense clashes on the Champs-Elysees on Saturday saw police face off with demonstrators who burned plywood, wielded placards reading “Death to Taxes” and upturned a large vehicle. At least 20 people, including four police officers, were injured in the day of unrest in Paris, according to police. One person sustained a serious hand injury.
Police said that dozens of protesters were detained for “throwing projectiles,” among other acts. In the Place de la Madeleine, scooters were burned to blackened shells.
“It’s going to trigger a civil war and me, like most other citizens, we’re all ready,” said Benjamin Vrignaud, a 21-year-old protester from Chartres. “They take everything from us. They steal everything from us,” said 21-year-old Laura Cordonnier.
Although its not an overt nationalist revolt, it is an indirect one. Because the obvious and inevitable consequence of the government spending vast quantities of money on unproductive foreigners living off handouts in various guises is higher taxes and lower benefits for the natives. Note one very important aspect of the insurrection:
But authorities are struggling because the movement has no clear leader and has attracted a motley group of people with broadly varying demands.
The anger is mainly over a hike in the diesel fuel tax, which has gone up seven euro cents per liter (nearly 30 U.S. cents per gallon) and will keep climbing in coming years, according to Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne. The tax on gasoline is also to increase four euro cents. Gasoline currently costs about 1.64 euros a liter in Paris ($7.06 a gallon), slightly more than diesel.
That’s why you NEVER permit any movement to accept a leader.