'It was carnage': one young demonstrator's story from France's water protests
Environment student Lucas, aged 23, took part in the protest on March 25th against against plans to build an irrigation reservoir at Sainte-Soline in west France. It was the first demonstration of this type he had participated in, and he ended up hurling stones at the gendarmes. Here he tells Karl Laske about the reality of being in the middle of brutal clashes which left protestors seriously injured and which sparked controversy over police tactics and the subsequent reaction of interior minister Gérald Darmanin.
“No“No one was prepared for anything so violent,” admits Lucas, aged 23. “It was utterly shocking. People I've spoken to about it, people who've already experienced this kind of confrontation, told me that you couldn't last five minutes. Some had umbrellas but the grenades were blowing up the umbrellas. The police launched five thousand grenades in two hours. There was nothing we could do. Some managed to get near the fencing, to break through the first barbed wire, but the second, it just wasn't possible. If you got in there it was certain death.”
