As Yellow Vest protests gripped Paris once again, Sweden's ambassador to France grumbled about police not doing anything about a fire started by protesters in front of the embassy. Her rant provoked some sarcastic responses.
The latest protests by defiant yellow vests seemingly caught Swedish Ambassador Veronika Wand-Danielsson somewhat off-guard, as she apparently discovered that some demonstrators had set up a fire "in front of the embassy" of Sweden's and Tunisia's diplomatic mission.
"Where are the police?" Wand-Danielsson asked in a tweet that was accompanied by photos of what looks like a pile of litter burning on a street not far from the embassy. After delivering a rebuke to French law enforcement, the diplomat expressed her gratitude to upstanding French citizens, who had lent a hand to put out the blaze in an act of "solidarity."
Also on rt.com Scuffles break out as ‘yellow vests’ return to streets for 1st protest of 2019 (PHOTO, VIDEO)As of Sunday morning, the ambassador's tweet seems to be scrubbed from her account following a flurry of furious comments from French users.
Many people on Twitter had rushed to offer their sincerest apologies to the ambassador on behalf of the country, while calling the actions of the protesters "inexcusable" and saying that those who lit the fire "do not represent France."
Others rallied to the defense of police by saying the officers were needed elsewhere and were "working hard" to prevent much more serious damage.
Some respondents, meanwhile, noted that the ambassador's criticism was just a little bit misdirected, and suggested she call firefighters instead.
"For your information: It is not the police who extinguished fires but firefighters," one man wrote. "Did you call the Fire Department?" another person asked.
Others also said that Wand-Danielsson might have slightly exaggerated the danger actually posed by the blaze. "I hope you were quick to extinguish [it] as this little bonfire would have burned out in 10 minutes," one man, who appears to be a Swede, said. Another person said the fire looked "pretty small," adding that it would "go off all by itself in half an hour."
One tongue-in-cheek comment also sarcastically praised the ambassador's resolve as she had to deal with the situation all by herself. "Thank you Madame Ambassador for coming out with a bucket of water to douse the burning box. A true Viking!" it said.
Elsewhere in Paris, the situation spiraled out of control as a crowd of masked protesters broke into the office of the French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux. The rioters used a forklift taken from a nearby construction site and rammed it into the building to make their way into the office, prompting an 'emergency evacuation' of the official, who was unharmed in the incident.
Saturday marked the eighth weekend of the Yellow Vest protests. Started in mid-November as a protest against a proposed hike in the cost of fuel, the movement then grew into a force opposing Macron's policies, protesting against a general decline in living standards.
The Yellow Vest rallies have frequently been marred by scuffles with police. This time, the protesters also pelted the officers with bottles and stones, prompting the police to respond with tear gas and pepper spray. At least 103 demonstrators were detained following the protests in Paris alone.
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