Yellow Vests Leader “Handicapped For Life” By Police

By Dan Lyman

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A leading figure of the French ‘Yellow Vests’ movement has been “handicapped for life” and may lose his eye after being shot by police in Paris, according to his attorney.

Jerome Rodrigues, 40, who has become a recognizable character in the anti-globalist protest campaign, was live-streaming last weekend’s demonstrations when he was reportedly blasted in the face with a ‘flashball’ – a 40mm rubber round being utilized by riot police.

“He is in shock,” Rodrigues’s lawyer told BFM TV. “He will be handicapped for life.”

“It is a tragedy for him and his family.”

Rodrigues’s own footage indicates he was likely shot at close range, fueling speculation that he may have been targeted.

Rodrigues was reportedly placed in an artificial coma overnight and expects he will lose his eye completely.

“I will lose my eye, family,” Rodrigues wrote on Facebook.

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Rodrigues addressed the media from his hospital room, telling them that he had also been hit with a ‘stingball grenade’ during the attack.

“Everything happened very quickly. They threw a grenade at me and I took a  [rubber] bullet. I was attacked twice — a grenade to the foot, and the bullet,” Rodrigues told LCI.

In the moments before he was shot, Rodrigues was reportedly warning fellow Yellow Vests to move out of the area due to a mounting presence of ‘black bloc’ agitators – radical leftist militants – who were likely amassing to attack police.

Infowars Europe has been reporting from the ground in France for the Yellow Vests protests. See some of our reports herehere, and here.

‘Journalists come down’: Yellow Vests chant ‘fake news’ outside French TV station (VIDEOS)

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Dozens of Yellow Vest protesters have descended on the headquarters of France’s BFM TV channel accusing the station of broadcasting “fake news” and calling for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron.

The demonstrators arrived at the offices in Paris around an hour after the gathering was announced on Facebook. There was already a heavy police presence at the building in the city’s 15th arrondissement when the crowd formed.

One of the protesters told RT France that BFM TV spreads false information about the movement, alleging that the channel purposefully underplays the size of its demonstrations.

AFP is reporting that “several hundred” Yellow Vests gathered outside the headquarters and Police used tear gas grenades on the crowd after the protesters lobbed projectiles in their direction.

The group reportedly chanted “journalists come down”, “fake news” and “Macron out”.

Riot police also fired tear gas during clashes in Rouen in Normandy and in Nantes in western France on Saturday, which is the seventh week of the mass rallies that have divided the country since the movement sprang up in November.

ALSO ON RT.COMTear gas fired as Yellow Vests and police clash in French city of Rouen (VIDEOS)

Official turnout numbers have dropped significantly on earlier weeks but organizers say the dip is due to the holiday season. The protesters say the movement will continue to grow in 2019 and plans are underway for New Year’s Eve protests.

The rallies initially began as a demonstration against fuel hikes but have since morphed into a broad rejection of Macron’s policies. On Thursday a group of about 40 Yellow Vests tried to storm the medieval fort of Bregancon that serves as the president’s official summer retreat.

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