Paris police fire tear gas to stop yellow vest protesters

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Paris police fired tear gas Saturday on yellow vest protesters and arrested over a 100 as they dispersed them and other activists.

A CNN team reported that police fired tear gas on the Champs-Elysees, the luxury shopping street in central Paris, amid small-scale clashes between police and protesters.

The police presence included 7,500 security forces to ensure security, the French news channel, LCI reported amid concern over yellow vest protesters and other anti-capitalist activists encroaching on authorized protests Saturday over climate change and pension reform.

Police made 137 arrests, the Paris police prefecture reported.

The Champs-Elysees has been at the center of the yellow vest protests since a movement against rising fuel prices and taxes began in November and turned into a larger anti-government revolt.

Protesters aim to pressure President Emmanuel Macron to increase wages and lower taxes, the New York Times reported earlier this year.

Local authorities had issued a decree Wednesday forbidding the yellow vest protests on the Champs-Elysees over the weekend.

Paris Police Commissioner Didier Lallement had told reporters the police contingent Saturday would match that of the protests back in May, which turned violent with 38 people injured and 380 arrests.