French convoys protesting virus rules move toward Paris

By ELAINE GANLEY and NICOLAS GARRIGA
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Protesters angry over pandemic restrictions are driving toward Paris in scattered convoys of camper vans, cars and trucks to blockade the French capital despite a police ban. The protesters organized online, galvanized in part by truckers who have blockaded Canada’s capital. Paris region authorities deployed more than 7,000 police officers to tollbooths and other key sites to try to prevent a blockade. Some of the French groups are threatening to continue their journey to Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and to meet up there with drivers from other countries on Monday. Belgian authorities banned the threatened blockade there. A similar convoy planned for Friday in Vienna was canceled.