Police arrest 250 at first Yellow Vest demonstration since March

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Police arrested more than 200 people and fired tear gas in Paris Saturday during the first Yellow Vest demonstrations since mid-March.

The last Gilet Jaunes protest happened on March 14, three days before France went into lockdown due to the novel coronavirus.

Officers fired tear gas at demonstrators along the Avenue de Wagram in Paris while another protest took place near the capital's stock exchange. Other demonstrations took place throughout the country.

Police had banned demonstrations from spreading the Champs Elysees after demonstrators defaced the Arc de Triomphe monument during an earlier Yellow Vest demonstration.

Police said they took more than 250 people in for questioning and issued warnings to 90 others as of 6:20 p.m. local time.

People associated with the Yellow Vest movement had planned four demonstrations on Saturday but police said Friday that they had banned two.

The movement started in November 2018 and takes its name from the yellow high-visibility jackets French motorists carry in their vehicles.

Early protests opposed attempts to increase fuel prices and in its first year, the movement resulted in an $11.05 billion aid package for the poor.