What to remember
– Close to 1,500 peopleaccording to the prefecture, demonstrated on Saturday afternoon in Lyon 9th, on the City of Valmy, against German pharmaceutical and agrochemical giant Bayer-Monsanto. They answered the call of the “Earth Uprisings”, a movement that brings together different collectives.
– However, the activists could not approach the French headquarters of the company, protected by the forces of order in great numbers†
– French and European flags were burned on the sidelines of the demonstration. The prefecture of Rhone denounced “unbearable images”.
– This morning, almost 300 people tried (unsuccessfully) to infiltrate the Bayer de Limas site in Villefranche-sur-Saône. At least seven people were taken into custody† No one was injured, but damage was noted, most notably to a police car. Actions condemned by the mayor of Caladois: “What has happened is outrageous! “, he trusted the Progress†
18 hours † “We condemn in the strongest terms the actions taken this morning”
In a press release, Bayer responded to the actions taken around its sites this Saturday. “The collective of Earth’s uprisings already issued an ‘ultimatum’ a few weeks ago against Bayer’s establishment in France. This method and the threats that come with it completely contradict Bayer’s desire for dialogue about its activities,” the German group begins.
“As for the pacifist procession this afternoon in Lyon, we hear the expectations of the protesters and we have everyone’s right to speak. […] However, we condemn in the strongest terms the actions carried out this morning at our site in Villefranche-Limas, as well as the multiple humiliations and insults expressed on the sidelines of the Lyon procession,” concludes Bayer.
4:45 PM † The procession spreads
The circle is round. The procession returned to Place Valmy. This demonstration against the German pharmaceutical and agrochemical giant Bayer-Monsanto is coming to an end. The Valmy metro (line D) will remain closed for the time being.
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4:15 pm † Tunnel Croix-Rousse closed to traffic
Police are blocking access to the tunnel for protesters and vehicles trying to pass under the Croix-Rousse.
3:45 pm † 1,500 activists according to the prefecture
The prefecture of Rhone announces the presence of 1,500 demonstrators against Bayer-Monsanto in the streets of Lyon next Saturday.
3:40 PM † The procession crosses the Robert Schuman Bridge
The protesters, always set on fire by the police, are now approaching the Robert Schuman Bridge (Lyon 9th).
“No to the privatization of the living! “, we can read on the signs.
3:25 pm † Go to the Industrial District
Change of program. Since the Vaise district was completely surrounded by the police, the demonstrators moved to the quays of the Saône, in the direction of the Industry district.
3:10 p.m. † The procession heads towards the Croix-Rousse tunnel
The procession has just left Place Valmy in the direction of the Croix-Rousse tunnel, opposite the French headquarters of Bayer-Monsanto.
“Everyone hates Monsanto,” protesters shout. We also hear some who claim to be antifa.
15 hours † “Bayer has to move”
They crossed France to demonstrate in Lyon this Saturday. Martin and Jade are from Lille. For them, “Bayer is the symbol of people who give cancer and who half treat them because they poison us afterwards. Bayer has to move. It creates the downfall of the farmers who will kill themselves afterwards.”
2:50 pm † Demonstration at Bayer’s site in Limas: “What happened is outrageous! †
At the beginning of the afternoon, the mayor of Villefranche-sur-Saône contacted Thomas Ravier Progress† He wants to speak about the events that took place this morning in his city – and that of Limas, where Bayer is located: “I deeply respect the right to demonstrate. Everyone is free to defend their ideas. But stop the rift and the violence! A majority of those present this morning had come to fight. We cannot blame the police, to whom I give my full support. Several vehicles belonging to the municipal police were also damaged, but also signs for Bayer, cameras in the station of Villefranche-sur-Saône… Tags were discovered… It’s outrageous what happened, enough! †
2:45 pm † “Everyone controls the world through their purchases”
Michel and Jean Marc, 67 and 63, are from Dijon. They came to Lyon to express their displeasure. They consider themselves “poisoned”. “Organic has been around for 60 years, but nobody respects it,” complains Michel. They smoke us out. Everyone controls the world through their purchases. I eat supposedly organic, but I still tested positive for glyphosate. †
2:35 pm † ‘Let the Bayer-Monsanto criminal go away’
The “Earth Uprisings” movement targets protesters in Place Valmy. The lexical field of war is used everywhere. “The Bayer-Monsanto criminal must go,” they say.
2:25 pm † “The realization of a movement”
The Volunteer Harvesters, the Farmers’ Confederation and the Earth Rebellion movement congratulate themselves on their “contributing to the closure of two factories in two days”. “Blocking industries is the concretization of a movement that wants to challenge, fight against the artificialization of the soil, the poisoning of the agrochemical industry,” the demonstrators testified.
Gertrude, 28, from Figeac (46): “Bayer is a multinational corporation that kills people all over the world who just want to make money. Bayer kills the living as a whole, they are far from greener, the protesters should be more numerous today! †
2:15 pm † Departure of the event scheduled at 3 p.m.
The organizers of the event have just indicated that it should start from Place Valmy around 3 pm.
The protesters are now around 700, mobilized to defame the actions of Bayer Monsanto.
Atti, 54, a resident of Chambéry, accuses the Bayer-Monsanto company of “selling drugs to kill people, poison the soil and cause an ecological disaster, not to mention financial disasters. †
13:45 o’clock † Place Valmy surrounded by police
The protesters welcome the closure of the factory in Limas this morning as police checks are important in Place Valmy, completely surrounded by the police.
1:30 PM † 400 protesters gathered at Place Valmy in Lyon
Nearly 400 protesters have already gathered in Place Valmy on the initiative of the “Les Uprisings of the Earth” movement. The protesters say they want to ‘besiege’ the headquarters of Bayer, a German giant in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry.
12 hours † Bayer Villefranche-Limas site in the crosshairs of GMO volunteers
In the middle of the morning, a demonstration was held by the group “Les Faucheurs Volontaires d’OGM” in front of the Bayer site in Villefranche-Limas. A large police force was present, the company had received burglary threats from the group “Extinction Rébellion”.
It was several hundred people, according to the organizers between 300 and 400. “Goal: to stop all these products that pollute and destroy us,” the activists claimed. Behind the banners that had been set up, some had donned overalls and masks to symbolize entry into a dangerous place.
7 to 8 protesters in custody
At the stroke of twelve, the movement seemed to fall apart. There was severe traffic congestion.
Two barriers leading to the Bayer group’s parking lot were broken, but protesters were unable to enter the site. Police say up to 250 people were there at the height of the demonstration. Seven to eight protesters have been detained. No one was injured on the police side, but a police car’s windshield was broken.
“In order to guarantee the absolute priority of the safety of our employees, we have stopped production upstream,” constance Tuffet, responsible for communications for Bayer France, confided.
At one of the other Bayer du Rhône sites, in Chazay-d’Azergues, no action was taken. The gendarmes were still busy with the grain this Saturday morning.
“Besiege the Seat”
They are calling this Saturday to “come and besiege the headquarters” of Bayer, a German giant in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry, in Lyon 9th. “Bayer-Monsanto’s French headquarters in Lyon must leave. We leave them three months to pack their boxes “, had launched on December 18 the uprisings of the earth, bringing together collectives such as Youth for climate Lyon, Extinction Rebellion, the voluntary reapers or the Confédération paysanne Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes .
Activists from all over France are expected from 1 p.m. Place Valmy (Lyon 9th). Activists want to demonstrate around Bayer’s French headquarters. This Saturday, demonstration bans were imposed around the Bayer-Monsanto sites in Lyon and Villefranche-sur-Saône.
1,000 employees around Lyon
“Bayer is in regular contact with NGOs to discuss and answer legitimate questions about our operations; but the way this collective works leaves no room for dialogue and creates a climate of violence that we condemn,” assures Bayer.
In the Lyon region, the company employs more than 1,000 people in administrative, research and production facilities.
BASF’s chemical plant in Genay was raided by “volunteers” on Friday
Eighty volunteer “mowers” and “mowers” from all over France peacefully enter the BASF Agri-Production Genay chemical plant, north of Lyon, this Friday morning. They occupied it for nearly two hours before being carefully escorted by the National Gendarmerie toward the exit. Activists campaign to end agricultural chemicals.