1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,159 Speaker 1: This episode contains depictions of police violence, explosions, and injuries. 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: There's also some medical content. Please take care as you listen. 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 2: Thank You, Show You by Natally Giuvel. 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, Natalie Jivell was living in a small 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: town near the Loire Valley in central France. It's known 6 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: for its rich history and landscape, its picturesque vineyards and castles. 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,480 Speaker 1: Natalie and her town are working class. She's a mother 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: of five and a grandmother, and at the time she 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: was working a temp job at the post office sorting 10 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: the mail. Things were always tight. She never seemed to 11 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: have enough money to take care of everyone. 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 3: No, mamble, my life was like that of everyone. 13 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 4: Right. 14 00:00:54,800 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 3: This is Natalie speaking through a voice actor to Saint 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 3: plement have the average person. I simply work and raise 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 3: my kids. At the end of the day, you just 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 3: had to work, consume and shut your mouth. 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: The working class is always struggling, but this particular moment 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: was especially hard. French President Emmanuel Macrome was newly elected 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: at the time, and while so many people were struggling 21 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: to make ends meet, he told people that it was 22 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: their fault they couldn't make it work. That if someone 23 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: really wanted to find a job. All they had to 24 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: do was cross the street and go look for one, 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: and that he could find one in a heartbeat. At 26 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: the same time, the price of everything was going up, food, clothes, 27 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: and gas, which Natalie needed to get to work every day. 28 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: It was more than living paycheck to paycheck. It was 29 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: shift to shift. She could only afford to get ten 30 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: or twenty years worth of gas or petrol at a time. 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: So when Natalie heard that there was going to be 32 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: a new tax on fuel, she was furious. She was 33 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: worried about climate change, but she also wanted to be 34 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: able to pay her bills, so she decided to go 35 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: to a protest in her town. 36 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 3: Really don't even beneath me, but I was going to protest, 37 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 3: but they weren't protests that really affected him. So that 38 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 3: time when I went out, yes it was for the 39 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 3: patrol because it affects everyone. It wasn't three or four 40 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 3: people out, it was thousands. That's what was beautiful, is 41 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 3: he secutable. 42 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: Natalie was going with her son, Michael, who was in 43 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: his thirties and also had a temp. 44 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 2: Job as a postal worker. 45 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: Together they'd suit up in these bright yellow vests and 46 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: head to the streets, where they'd meet up with a 47 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: sea of protesters, all wearing bright yellow vests. They're the 48 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: kind you might see construction workers wearing in France. Everyone 49 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: has to keep one in their car. If they break 50 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: down or if they have some kind of emergency, they 51 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: put it on and in a symbolic sign of collective distress. 52 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: The yellow vest has become the distinctive uniform that is 53 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: ragged out group of protesters. In fact, they're simply known 54 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: as the yellow vests lesion. 55 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 3: Us yellow Vests. We were fighting for petrol because without 56 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 3: petrol you can't go to work, and without work, you 57 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 3: don't have money. Without money, how do you provide for 58 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 3: the kids? How do you pay their bills? 59 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: The yellow vest protests started as a reaction to a 60 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: rise in fuel prices. So at the beginning they were 61 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: supported by notorious climate deniers like Donald Trump, and they 62 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: got a reputation for being opposed to climate action. But 63 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: in fact, most of the yellow vests actually wanted better 64 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: climate policies. They just didn't want to do it at 65 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: the expense of the working class, and quickly their demands 66 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: came to be about much more social justice. Taxing the rich, 67 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: environmental policies that don't leave workers behind, and ultimately getting 68 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: the president to resign. The movement is made up of 69 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: mostly working class people who live away from large urban centers, 70 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: people who bear the brunt of the cost of living 71 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: crisis and rely heavily on their cars, so they protest 72 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: by occupying roundabouts. There you can see people from all 73 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,039 Speaker 1: over the political spectrum, far right, far left, and people 74 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: who refused to vote at all. And a lot of 75 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: these protesters were women, women like Natalie. At first, when 76 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: Natalie and Michael went to all of these demonstrations for 77 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: higher wages, against pension reform, for workers' rights, they expected 78 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: pushback from the police. That's because they were seeing so 79 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: many officers in riot gear deployed for the protests. They'd 80 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: brought single doses of saline solution in their bags to 81 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: wash tear gas away from their eyes, just in case. Instead, 82 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: the police seemed indifferent, even benevolent at times. It almost 83 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: seems like they were on the side of the protesters. 84 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 5: It in Many for Paris. Splicly, you say, it's in 85 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 5: Many for Paris. I went to a protest in Paris. 86 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 5: I can't remember which one anymore. At this protest in Paris. 87 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 5: On one side, you had. 88 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 3: All of the riot police and they had taken off 89 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 3: their helmets. They were just smiling at us. They weren't 90 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 3: doing anything, they weren't moving where, they were just watching 91 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:47,799 Speaker 3: us or cascu to tether their shield in one hands 92 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 3: their helmet in another. I said, well done to you 93 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 3: for once. 94 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 2: That was nice. 95 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 3: We thought maybe maybe they are not all the same. 96 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: They had taken off their helmets as if to say, 97 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: you don't have to be scared of us. 98 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 2: Disha chischa, yes exactly. 99 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: Over the next few months, the protests kept getting bigger, 100 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: until eventually it wasn't just thousands, but hundreds of thousands 101 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: of people descending on the streets every weekend, and the 102 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: police were not as supportive as that first experience Natalie 103 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: described at all. The French police were systematically using force 104 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: and illegally corralling protesters. Dozens of people were blinded by 105 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: rubber bullets and at least five had their hands ripped 106 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: off by tear gas grenades, but this didn't deter Mikael 107 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:45,479 Speaker 1: and NetTel. Over the years, the protests became a way 108 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: of life for Mikael and NetTel. They made lots of 109 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: friends in the yellow vests. By March of twenty twenty three, 110 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: they'd been to dozens of these demonstrations, so when they 111 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: found out about one against the privatization of water in 112 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: this small town called Sainsolin, it made sense that they'd go. 113 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: Michuel got out of his night shift, he took a 114 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: power nap, and then a friend picked him up to 115 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: go meet the rest of their group. Natalie had her 116 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: own laid shift the night before, and she was exhausted, 117 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: so before Miguel walked out the door, she said the 118 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: thing that any parent would say to their kid, too, Sure, 119 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: be careful. Miquel and his friends drove two hours to Sansolin. 120 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: When they got there, the police stopped them and checked 121 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: their car. Then they led them through to this big 122 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: open field where the protest was taking place. At home, 123 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: Natalie was easing into her morning after her long night shift. 124 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: She was drinking her cappuccino and had the TV on 125 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: in the background, and then out of the corner of 126 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: her eye, she noticed something unsettling. Clashes between the police 127 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: and protesters. There was tear gas and people in gas 128 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: masks and smoke billowing from torched police cars. She tried 129 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: calling Michael, but he didn't answer, which isn't that unusual 130 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: for him. 131 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 2: Mika, Mikael and his phone. 132 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 3: It's a whole thing. He always loses one every time 133 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 3: he goes to a protest. 134 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: Eventually, she managed to get through to one of his friends. 135 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: When she talked to Michael, he said, they just parked 136 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: the car. They could see the protesters in the distance, 137 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: but they were still far from the reservoirs. They decided 138 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: to go in anyway. From where they stood. It didn't 139 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: look that bad and they had come all this way. 140 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: So Natalie told him again just in case to fe, 141 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: I said. 142 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 3: Be careful. He said, yes, Mom, I promise I'll be careful. 143 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:51,559 Speaker 3: I said, okay, fine. 144 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,319 Speaker 1: Mikuel and his friends start walking towards the crowd. It's 145 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: a big field and there are cars parked all around them. 146 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: Groups of demonstrators are still arriving from all sides. In 147 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,079 Speaker 1: the rain boots. They can see different convoys making their 148 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: way to the reservoir and they decide to follow one 149 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: of them, and then as they get closer, they start 150 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: seeing what Natalie just saw. Around one PM, a national 151 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 1: news network announced that two protesters were in critical condition. 152 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: Natalie immediately thought of Mikhael, and under her breath she 153 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: started repeating to herself like a slow soft prayers, fisfish, 154 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: please let it not be my son, Let it not 155 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: be Mikael. I'm an epis Mazsini. And this is drilled 156 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: the real free speech threat. Franz prides itself on being 157 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: a country of protest, after all, that's how we got 158 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: rid of the monarchy and why we have workers' rights. 159 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: And it wasn't always peaceful, but but over the years 160 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: protests has gone more dangerous and the government started using 161 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: anti terror laws to target climate activists. Then everything came 162 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: to a head over one bloody weekend in March of 163 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:29,679 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. That story after the break. At the 164 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: same time that Natalie and Mikael and the Yellow Vests 165 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: were taking to the streets, there was another movement rising 166 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,359 Speaker 1: up in Europe, one that was staging dramatic climate protests 167 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: in London, blocking bridges, jumping onto trains during rush hour, 168 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: and gluing themselves to the gates of Buckingham Palace, all 169 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: in an attempt to force the government to take action 170 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: and climate policy. 171 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 3: Their name extinction Rebellion, Extinction rebellion Extinction Rebellion. 172 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: While the Yellow Vests were mostly working class people from 173 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: raw areas, Extinctum Rebellion was largely middle class, college educated 174 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: activists in cities, people who could get away with taking 175 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: big risks. No, no, no, this is Alice. Well, I'm 176 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: going to call her Alice for her in protection. Alice 177 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: spent her childhood moving around, mostly in France, but wherever 178 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: they settled, Alice and her family would take long nature walks, 179 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: trying to guess the names of the birds or taking 180 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,559 Speaker 1: pictures of the landscape. Now she's in her mid thirties, 181 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: she's an engineer with a master's degree, and she's been 182 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: a climate activist for much of her life. She spent 183 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: years signing petitions, hanging out flyers, going to protests, and 184 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: volunteering abroad. But she got frustrated the climate crisis was 185 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 1: looming and she felt like she was doing too little, 186 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: that things weren't moving fast enough. So in late twenty eighteen, 187 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: when she heard about Extinction Rebellion, she decided she wanted 188 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: to bring their tactics to France, and she wasn't alone. 189 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: With about one hundred other people, she started a chapter 190 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: in Paris and pretty soon. 191 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 6: We started occupying for more than a week one of them, 192 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 6: sort of central public square in Paris, and it just 193 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 6: happened really smoothly. 194 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: And the authorities weren't sure how to respond. They'd basically 195 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: never seen this sort of protest before, one that was 196 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: so big. 197 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 2: And flashy and so ripe for media coverage. 198 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 6: And what we knew at the time is that there 199 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,199 Speaker 6: was a conflict between the mayor of Paris, the socialist 200 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 6: mayor of Paris, and then the head of the police 201 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 6: department in Paris, and where the mayor wasn't going to 202 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 6: actively say that she was against climate militant and a 203 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 6: climate movement. So that was kind of the first time 204 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:05,839 Speaker 6: where you could really feel that there was going to 205 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 6: be a fracture between police and then a mayor or 206 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 6: president or prime minister. 207 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: The movement grew quickly to dozens of local chapters with 208 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: thousands of members. They weren't just in Paris but also 209 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: in smaller cities like Strasbourg and Bordeaux Enci and lots 210 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: of people were taking notice, including the police. 211 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 7: The more. 212 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 6: Occupation and actions, the more we were also infiltrated by surveillance. 213 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: Just two years later, Extinction Rebellion and Yellow Vest activists 214 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: like Miquel were showing up together marching side by side 215 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: at Sansolin, which might sound really surprising to anyone who 216 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: knows anything about the climate movement. That unity didn't just happen. 217 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: In January twenty twenty one, hundreds of people came together. 218 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: There were old anti nuclear activists, some farmers' unions and 219 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: younger activists from Extinction Rebellion and the like. They gathered 220 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: in a makeshift community hall in a wetland area called 221 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: notredeme DeLand to create a new, more integrated movement. Notred 222 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: deem DeLand is a historic place for climate activism. In 223 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: the two thousands, hundreds of people moved to the area 224 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: to try and stop the construction of a new airport. 225 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: They built an entire town made out of wood, complete 226 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: with houses, a bakery and shops, and they lived there. 227 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,119 Speaker 2: It became a sort of social experiment. 228 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: They called it a Zone def a zone to defend, 229 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: and since then dozens have sprouted across France. The government 230 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: is so concerned that it put together a special unit 231 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: to prevent their expansion. It's a team of legal experts 232 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: that helps local officials dismantle these zones as soon as. 233 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 2: They pop up. 234 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: And in this place all these activists from very different movements, 235 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: some of which had historically clashed over class and ideological differences. 236 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: They decided to create a coalition of grassroots groups from 237 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: all across the country under one banner lisulev Monbelete the 238 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: Earth Uprisings their slogan we are the Earth defending itself. 239 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: In their founding text, one of the things they emphasized 240 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: was that they want to get rid of the class 241 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: divide that has plagued the climate movement, not just in 242 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: France but all over the world. 243 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 2: They wrote, we do not believe in two. 244 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: Tiered climate activism in which a minority prides itself on 245 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: eating organic and driving a hybrid suv while the majority 246 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: is duck in jobs they don't want to do, long 247 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: daily commute and low cost food. Their goals were to 248 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: take back the land from polluting industries occupying this arm 249 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: ecocidal projects and bring everyone together, the farmers, the unions, 250 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: the urban social justice organizers, the anarchist groups and the 251 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: people fighting against projects in their own backyards. They decided 252 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: to focus on one issue in particular, water, which is 253 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: how we end up with Michael heading to the Sansolin 254 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: protest in twenty twenty three. Across France, there are these 255 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: things called megabasins being built. They're huge reservoirs that capture 256 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: and store groundwater in the winter so that farmers can 257 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: irrigate their fields during summer droughts things in part to 258 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: climate change. France has just been through back to back droughts, 259 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: including our first ever winter drought last year. The problem 260 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: is pumping water from underground actually makes strouts worse, and 261 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: the reservoirs can only be used by hendful of large agribusinesses, 262 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,159 Speaker 1: which are mainly focused on cornfields and other irrigation plans 263 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: for export. Activists say the megabasins are effectively privatizing water 264 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: and putting small, more sustainable farmers out of business. 265 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 6: So the sort of movement against these had been growing 266 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 6: over the months, and I guess it became a real 267 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 6: realization for a lot of people what the fight for 268 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 6: water meant and access to water, and so I think 269 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,479 Speaker 6: that kind of resonated for a lot of people, and 270 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 6: it meant that a lot of people came from all 271 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 6: over France. 272 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: The first big protest was organized at the site of 273 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: one of the basins in October twenty twenty two in 274 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: Saint Julin, just five months before Miguel went They're with 275 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: his friends. It's a small village in western France of 276 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: about hundred people. Thousands showed up and the government was 277 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 1: not happy. 278 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 7: The mode. 279 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 4: Combat. 280 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 1: That's French Interior Minister Gerald Damenon. He said, the protesters 281 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: used methods which I'm not afraid to say it amount 282 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: to eco terrorism, which we absolutely must fight. It was 283 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: really unusual to hear a French government official use the 284 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: word terrorism to talk about climate activists. 285 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 6: And so the more the actions went on over the months, 286 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,120 Speaker 6: the more people would actually come. And because it's over weekend, 287 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 6: it means that a lot of people can travel to 288 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 6: spend a few days there. 289 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: Months later, activists reconvened in some sortin People gathered in 290 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: the fields on Friday night for discussions, shared meals and 291 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: even of fun. Before the big day, hundreds of brightly 292 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: colored tents popped up around the activist camp. 293 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,440 Speaker 6: It had a lot of families and of people coming 294 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 6: from all over France, farmers, unions, political movements, a lot 295 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 6: of people who were not essentially in climate movements but 296 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 6: heard of what was going on, and so would come 297 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:24,439 Speaker 6: there also as their first big action or actions. So 298 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 6: it was like the diversity of people. I've never seen 299 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 6: that in the actions that we've had in extinction and rebellion, 300 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:34,120 Speaker 6: for example. 301 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: The next morning, thousands started marching to one of the basins. 302 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,199 Speaker 1: Their goal was to stop construction, take apart some of 303 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 1: the pipes that had already been installed, and get a 304 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: moratorium on any new reservoirs being built with public funds. 305 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: There was even a community radio station that was created 306 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: specifically for. 307 00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 2: The event, measine Sega. 308 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: The protester is divided into three groups marching separately, a 309 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: blue one, a yellow one, and a pink one. Each 310 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: blog had a mascot representing a local species that's threatened 311 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: with extinction for the blues and eel for the yellows 312 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,479 Speaker 1: and otter and the pinks hold up a type of 313 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: bird called a bustard. 314 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 6: The group that I was in, we had a big, 315 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 6: a massive bird that was built out of wood that. 316 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 2: Like dozens of people were carrying. You had kids, people 317 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 2: playing music. 318 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: The activists walk for miles before they reached the basin, 319 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: a huge unfinished reservoir that basically looks like an empty hole. 320 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 6: And we arrived around the best scene and everybody was 321 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 6: holding hands, and the idea was to literally circle around 322 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 6: the best scene holding hands, and that was it. 323 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 2: But that's not what happened. 324 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 6: You had police that kind of started to arrive from everywhere, 325 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 6: and without even being a threat by simply walking in 326 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:28,439 Speaker 6: a field. You started to have police shooting tear gas 327 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 6: and grenades. 328 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: She means a kind of less lethal grenade, one that 329 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: releases pepper spray or tear gas and usually some kind 330 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 1: of rubber pellets. 331 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 6: And that kind of started a bit, and then within 332 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 6: I'd say a few minutes, that became complete chaos. They 333 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 6: literally didn't stop for two hours. 334 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 2: Keepricin blew. 335 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: A human rights observer who was on the scene could 336 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,160 Speaker 1: barely keep track of all the attacks. 337 00:21:55,520 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 7: There were explosive grenades, crowd dispersal grenades, tear against grenades, 338 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 7: and stern greenades. They are the usual kind of tear 339 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 7: gas grenades, but there are also grenades that are deafening 340 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 7: and explosive, and they were launched NonStop, so we were 341 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 7: thinking that they were very injuring. It was almost a 342 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 7: green eight per second at that time, and almost systematically 343 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 7: after we hear an explosion, we heard someone calling for 344 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 7: a medics. 345 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 2: The worst was that that moment where. 346 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,639 Speaker 6: All you could hear was medic people shouting asking for 347 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 6: help because you had so many people injured, and we 348 00:22:54,920 --> 00:23:00,640 Speaker 6: were thirty thousand people, so it's just it's massive, and 349 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 6: you have to imagine that with it. Then in less 350 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 6: than two hours, they threw more than four thousand grenade, 351 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 6: so it was a constant flow of grenades being thrown. 352 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 2: At us, and that noise. 353 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 6: Nobody's ever seen that before in their lives, and it 354 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 6: just wouldn't stop. 355 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,239 Speaker 1: In the middle of this chaos, dozens of protesters are 356 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: screaming for help on different sides of the field, and 357 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 1: at different times two men fell to the ground. They 358 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 1: were unconscious and bleeding. One had been hit in the 359 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: head and one in the windpipe. Volunteer medics bandaged their 360 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,239 Speaker 1: wounds and wrapped them under survival blankets, and then they 361 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: frantically sent messages to the other doctors at the protests 362 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: begging for help. He's not breathing, said one message. It's 363 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: an absolute critical emergency, said another. 364 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,440 Speaker 6: I was with a group of people trying to evacuate 365 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 6: people who were massively injured. 366 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: Doctors, activists, and even politicians tried to call emergency services, 367 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:09,680 Speaker 1: but for hours. 368 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 2: No one came. 369 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: In this recording obtained by Human rights observers, a volunteer 370 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: doctor says, where are you in terms of what to 371 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 1: me looks like the biggest absolute medical emergency, and the 372 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: emergency responder explains, we're not going to send a helicopter 373 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: or an ambulance to the scene because. 374 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 2: The police gave us orders not to. 375 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 6: The police wouldn't let the ambulances arrive. And actually seeing 376 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 6: these people and thinking, deep down, this person is not 377 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 6: going to live if someone doesn't come now. 378 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: Natalie was still at home watching all of this unfold 379 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: on TV, and she started to panic. She tried call 380 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: Mikhael over and over again, but no one answered. Finally, 381 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: her phone rang. It was one of Michael's friends. He 382 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: told her that Michael was one of the two people 383 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: in critical condition. He was the one who had been 384 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:21,479 Speaker 1: hitting the windpipe The last time he saw Michael, Michael 385 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: was lying on the ground unconscious. Natalie called hospitals in 386 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: the region trying to find him. It turned out he'd 387 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 1: been taken to Poitier, almost an hour from Saint Sulin, 388 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: She drove straight there. 389 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 2: A contrive fish. 390 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 3: So they led me in and when I saw my son, 391 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 3: I was in tears all the left side of his face. 392 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:54,679 Speaker 3: He looked like elephant man. He didn't know you were 393 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 3: there at the beginning. He didn't even recognize me. But 394 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,199 Speaker 3: then when he did, when he heard my voice, he 395 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 3: would stay lucid for a fraction of a second, then 396 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:15,439 Speaker 3: he'd be gone again. He'd go back to sleep. He 397 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:21,360 Speaker 3: kept saying, leave me alone, stop beating me up. There 398 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,880 Speaker 3: was nothing left of him, and I kept saying to him, 399 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 3: You're not leaving me, Mikhael. You can't. You have a son, 400 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,440 Speaker 3: you can't abandon us. 401 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: The next day, Natalie got a call from the hospital. 402 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 2: She let me think him, appeal him to you. 403 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 3: The doctor called me and he said, ma'am, I really 404 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 3: need to talk to you about your son. 405 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,719 Speaker 5: Instantly I was in tears. 406 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 3: We have to operate on your son's brain urgently. It's 407 00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 3: extremely urgent. So he explained, he has they're not bleeding 408 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 3: and we're trying to close up the artery. We will 409 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 3: have to put him in an artificial coma. 410 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 2: She took a phi. I called my daughter to tell her. 411 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 4: She shafted turtle. 412 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 3: There was a chance we would lose her brother. 413 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 2: Appreciate kayl. 414 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 3: To Mikael. The last word he said, when he had 415 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 3: a moment of lucidity, where oh my mummy, you're here, 416 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 3: And then he went straight back into his comma. I 417 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 3: kept trying to talk to him. I kept trying to 418 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 3: wake him up. I said, Michael, Michael, Michael, but he 419 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 3: was already gone. He was not corresponding anymore. I told myself, 420 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 3: my son is about to die. My son is going 421 00:27:57,760 --> 00:27:58,399 Speaker 3: to die. 422 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: For months, media coverage of climate activists had been getting worse, 423 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:12,679 Speaker 1: but now as surgeons were operating on Miquel's brain and 424 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:17,400 Speaker 1: Natalie was anxiously waiting for news, politicians and commentators went 425 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 1: on the offensive, including President Emanuel macrom. 426 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 4: Sample. 427 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 1: He said, you have thousands of people who simply came 428 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:34,120 Speaker 1: to wage war, and news outlets said the protesters were violent. 429 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: They focused on the dozens of police officers the government 430 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: says were injured, but left out the fact that so 431 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: were two hundred protesters, and two of them, including Michael, 432 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 1: were fighting for their lives. The Interior Minister, Gerald d'armenon 433 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 1: said that no weapons of war had been used by 434 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: police but human rights observers, activists and journalists who were 435 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 1: at the protest, they all released videos showing that they did. 436 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 1: In the midst of all this, public opinion turned against 437 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: the protesters, so Damenan took advantage of the moment and 438 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: announced he would disband the movement. I have therefore decided 439 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 1: to initiate the dissolution of the Earth Uprisings, which I 440 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: will put to a future Council of Ministers. This was 441 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: a huge blow to activists, and it was about to 442 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: get a whole lot worse because behind the scenes, a 443 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: powerful lobby was getting involved, one that had the power 444 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: to definitively tip the scales against the protesters. After the 445 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: water protest, lobbyists were angry, especially Arnuso, the president of 446 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: one of the largest agriculture interest groups in the country, 447 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: known as EFINESUA. Tens of thousands of people had turned 448 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: up at Sainsulin, and then just a few months later 449 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: there were more protests at industrial farms. Politicians and big 450 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 1: agg interest groups said the activists were targeting poor, hard 451 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: working farmers in France, where agriculture is such a big 452 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: part of the economy. This argument really resonated with the 453 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:25,719 Speaker 1: public and Arno Russo seized on this. He said, the 454 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: total impunity of earth uprisings will lead everyone to civil war. 455 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 1: The Finesua calls on everyone to be calm and restrained, 456 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: but I have to add that I'm not sure I 457 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: will be able to hold my troops for long. An 458 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: incident can happen, and when someone like him makes a threat, 459 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: it doesn't go unnoticed. The Fenesua spends six hundred thousand 460 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: years a year on lobbying. They're powerful. Militants affiliated with 461 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 1: the group have set town halls on fire and dropped 462 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: tons of cow dung in front of the Ministry of Agriculture. 463 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: They've attacked elected officials and threatened climate activists. 464 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 4: But to the. 465 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: Government, the water protectors are the eco terrorists and the 466 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: union farmers well they need to be protected. In twenty nineteen, 467 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: the government even gave them their own police force. 468 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 2: Yes, you heard that right. 469 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: The French government created a special intelligence unit to deal 470 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:30,960 Speaker 1: with threats against agriculture interests, what they call agribashing. The 471 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: force is called the Dimite Unit. It was created in 472 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: partnership with the Fenesua, that big lobby I mentioned before, 473 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: and it often targets climate activists in twenty twenty three, 474 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: days after Rousseau made his threats, the government announced by 475 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: decree the dissolution of the Earth Uprisings. But Earth Uprisings 476 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: wasn't an NGO or even an organization, which left people wondering, 477 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: how do you disband a movement? Can the government even 478 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: do that? What they could do was arrest activists, and 479 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: they did. Eighteen were arrested in connection with alleged violence 480 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: at the water protest. The government didn't just start these 481 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: crackdowns overnight. There was a long lead up to their 482 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: ability to do this and for the public to tolerate it. 483 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: Eight years before the Sansolin protests and the dissolution of 484 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: the Earth Uprisings in November twenty fifteen, French climate activists 485 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: were preparing for the moment that the whole world would 486 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: be watching them COP twenty one in Paris. For years, 487 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: cops seemed to turn into one missed opportunity after the next. 488 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: This time they decided it would be different. Activists would 489 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 1: put so much pressure on governments that they would have 490 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: no choice but sign of real agreement, one that would not. 491 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 2: Let global warm out reached more than. 492 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: Two degrees two weeks before presidents and prime ministers from 493 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: all over the world were supposed to land in Paris. 494 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 8: Police have now confirmed at least four attacks in the 495 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 8: city of Paris tonight, One at the Star de France, 496 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,760 Speaker 8: where there was a major soccer game between France and Germany. 497 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 8: The French President Francois Holland in attendance, the AP reporting 498 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 8: there were suicide bombers outside the stadium, you could hear 499 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 8: it right there as the game was going on. And 500 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 8: the most horrifying attack of all at the Battakan concert hall, 501 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:32,160 Speaker 8: where an American heavy metal band was playing tonight, the 502 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 8: APIs at least one hundred have been found dead inside 503 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 8: that concert hall. 504 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,240 Speaker 1: Gunman broke into the Battaklan in the middle of a 505 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: rug concert and started shooting. They gunned down people having 506 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 1: drinks at terraces, and even tried to blow up the 507 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: Stade de France while the president was watching a soccer game. 508 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,720 Speaker 1: By the end of the night, one hundred and thirty 509 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: people were dead. The country was in shock. It was 510 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:01,480 Speaker 1: the deadliest terror attack France had ever scene. The president 511 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: said never again, and in the wake of that, Parliament 512 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,280 Speaker 1: passed new laws to prevent terrorist activity on French soil. 513 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: The first law declared a state of emergency. 514 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 9: Protesters were out in the streets despite the state of 515 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,000 Speaker 9: emergency banning dozens of demonstrations planned for this week's climate summit, 516 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:21,760 Speaker 9: and most of them wouldn't. 517 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 1: We that state of emergency restricted protests and even put 518 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 1: twenty four activists on house arrests to stop them from protesting, 519 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 1: so that huge climate march planned for cop It was canceled. Instead, 520 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: activists brought four tons of shoes to the Place de 521 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,880 Speaker 1: la Republicue, this huge square in the middle of Paris, 522 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:45,799 Speaker 1: to represent all the people who wanted to come out 523 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:46,320 Speaker 1: in march. 524 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 9: It all started peacefully laying shoes to represent the thousands 525 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:52,279 Speaker 9: whose marches were canceled, and. 526 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 2: They're uninterested in having their voices kept out of. 527 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,760 Speaker 3: This climate contact is This is where the revolution started. 528 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 3: This is where the people can express themselves. It's not 529 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 3: called the plaster Republic for nothing. 530 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: And even though it was illegal, a few thousand did 531 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 1: still come out. Three hundred people were arrested. 532 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,279 Speaker 9: Now, after the tear gas was thrown, you can see 533 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 9: that the crowd is not worked up, as some of 534 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,720 Speaker 9: the protesters are staging a sit in the other ones 535 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,959 Speaker 9: are riding on the ground, one gentleman refusing to move 536 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 9: from there. 537 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,799 Speaker 1: Parliament continued to pass laws they said were designed to 538 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: fight terrorism, Laws that made it easier to ban protests, 539 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,279 Speaker 1: to disband groups that were seen as a threat to 540 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,360 Speaker 1: public order, to expense surveillance and search people without warrants, 541 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 1: to put people on house arrests even if they hadn't 542 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:39,320 Speaker 1: committed a crime. 543 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 2: One of the. 544 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: Laws passed is known as the Anti Separatism Law. It 545 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: requires nonprofits to pledge allegiance to the values of the 546 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:54,400 Speaker 1: French Republic or risk losing their funding. It also allows 547 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,839 Speaker 1: authorities to disband a group if any one of its 548 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:03,239 Speaker 1: members is accused of inciting material degradation meaning destruction of 549 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 1: public or private property. And what makes a terrorist is 550 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: very much up to interpretation. Fatimah Wasak is a political analyst, 551 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: a writer, and a prominent climate activist. She says those 552 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 1: laws meant to counter terrorism have been unfairly used against 553 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,200 Speaker 1: a lot of innocent people long before they were used 554 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,799 Speaker 1: to target white climate activists, and that when you look 555 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,920 Speaker 1: black or Arab, you don't need to be campaigning for 556 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:31,840 Speaker 1: the climate to get called a terrorist. 557 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 10: People of color get repressed only for existing, not for 558 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:43,600 Speaker 10: their political choices or their activism. That's the big difference, 559 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:49,239 Speaker 10: and we consider that violence to be less important politically 560 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 10: that the one against climate activists. 561 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:56,320 Speaker 2: That's the tragic part. 562 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:03,400 Speaker 1: Unlike US and other countries, in France, the government's official 563 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 1: stance on systemic racism is that it doesn't exist, to 564 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,479 Speaker 1: the point that it's even against the law to gather 565 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,839 Speaker 1: ethnic data. We don't actually know how many people of 566 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,800 Speaker 1: color live in this country, let alone how many people 567 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: are killed, attacked, or harassed by the police. Fatima runs 568 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 1: a working class environmentalism center called Verragon, and when it 569 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,959 Speaker 1: first opened, threatening posters and leaflets started showing up around 570 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: the neighborhood. They said that mothers behind the project were 571 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 1: planning to separate Muslim kids from the others in a 572 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: bit to sort of segregate the schools, an Islamist plot. 573 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,479 Speaker 10: It's hard to get to a space and to see 574 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:49,600 Speaker 10: that people made the trip very early in the morning 575 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:54,360 Speaker 10: with their faces covered to put up these posters again 576 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 10: and again to hand out liftlets in the neighborhood. In 577 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 10: mailboxy is three times to tell the working class people 578 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 10: of our neighborhood not to associate with us. 579 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,120 Speaker 1: And very quickly right wing media outlets were at her 580 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: door asking her, are you plotting to overthrow democracy and 581 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: in state sharia law? 582 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:23,560 Speaker 10: When people say you're a separatist, how do you prove 583 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 10: that you're not. How do you prove that you're not 584 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:30,880 Speaker 10: an Islamist? When you drop off your children to school, 585 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 10: for example, the teachers and the parents don't say hello 586 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:38,200 Speaker 10: to you anymore. To understand what is happening in France, 587 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,799 Speaker 10: you have to understand that a person like me who 588 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:45,600 Speaker 10: campaigned four years for kids to have a vegetarian option 589 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:52,160 Speaker 10: in the school cafeteria, and on environmental issues, so on 590 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:56,400 Speaker 10: the impact of factory farms, global warming, the issue of 591 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 10: animal abuse, public health, and the health of children when 592 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 10: they overconsume meat. All of these are environmental issues that 593 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:12,359 Speaker 10: someone like me doesn't get called an environmental activist. They 594 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 10: get called a separatist or an Islamist. 595 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,000 Speaker 1: Fatima didn't get much support from the climate movement either, 596 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:23,719 Speaker 1: even though the work she and others do at Verragon 597 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:30,040 Speaker 1: is rooted in environmentalism, like teaching kids to cook vegetarian meals, 598 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,839 Speaker 1: selling organic vegetables, and explaining the findings of the IPCC 599 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,880 Speaker 1: reports to the neighbors. It doesn't get recognized as climate 600 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:40,720 Speaker 1: activism in France. 601 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:45,160 Speaker 10: When activist groups are led by people of color and 602 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:50,280 Speaker 10: located in working class areas, they are not labeled as 603 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:55,759 Speaker 10: climate activists, even when they do environmental work. 604 00:39:56,239 --> 00:40:00,640 Speaker 1: And that has always meant getting threatened or attacked. In June, 605 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,480 Speaker 1: that reality broke through the consciousness of everyone in France. 606 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:11,799 Speaker 1: This is the sound of a police officer shooting a 607 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 1: seventeen year old Arab French boy in the suburbs of Paris. 608 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:17,560 Speaker 2: His name was Niael Merzuk. 609 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,400 Speaker 1: Despite not having his license yet, he was driving a 610 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,839 Speaker 1: friend to school, and moments after police pulled him over 611 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,280 Speaker 1: for a traffic stop, one of the officers shot Merzuk 612 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:33,040 Speaker 1: at point blank range. He died an hour later. After 613 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 1: his death, his mother, Munia, marched and protested and talked 614 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,400 Speaker 1: about systemic racism and police violence, all the while she 615 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:45,480 Speaker 1: was still clearly in shock. Fatima says there's a link 616 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:49,160 Speaker 1: between police brutality against kids of color, the repression of 617 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,760 Speaker 1: climate activists, and in action on climate change. 618 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,200 Speaker 10: I often say this as a mother. I don't want 619 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,560 Speaker 10: my children to die under the weight of three cops. 620 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,600 Speaker 10: That's what happened to Adam. 621 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:06,120 Speaker 1: Mattraure Fatima is referring to a twenty four year old 622 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,800 Speaker 1: black Frenchman who died while in police custody. 623 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,359 Speaker 10: I don't want my children to die under the weight 624 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:17,480 Speaker 10: of three cops. But I also don't want my children 625 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 10: to die from the air they breathe. I live in Banuli, 626 00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:27,360 Speaker 10: just across a highway interchange. It's one of the most 627 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:34,040 Speaker 10: politied places in Europe. The issues of environment and police brutality. 628 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:39,000 Speaker 10: I deal with them on a daily basis. It's a 629 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:43,880 Speaker 10: real fear that I deal with every day for my 630 00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 10: own children. How do we make sure our children can breath? 631 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:59,840 Speaker 1: On April fourteen, twenty twenty three, three weeks after he 632 00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:04,440 Speaker 1: was taken to hospital, Michael woke up from his coma p. 633 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:08,839 Speaker 2: What's the first thing you remember when you woke up? 634 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:16,840 Speaker 4: The Roman Mama, seeing my mother. I still had a 635 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 4: tube in my mouth. I couldn't talk, but I was 636 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:28,200 Speaker 4: happy to be awake. I shot. I had been in 637 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 4: the hospital for a day, and in fact it had 638 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:38,160 Speaker 4: been two and a half weeks when I woke up. 639 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:44,840 Speaker 4: I wasn't I wasn't myself. It was lost. I didn't 640 00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:49,080 Speaker 4: know what it was, just me. I did not know 641 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 4: what happened to me. 642 00:42:54,480 --> 00:43:01,560 Speaker 5: Struck me was Mikael when he woke up. 643 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:06,800 Speaker 3: The first word he said, they removed the to the intubation, 644 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:09,400 Speaker 3: and he said, can you order a kebab? 645 00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:13,319 Speaker 11: With had a good laugh, a good laugh. I looked 646 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,760 Speaker 11: at Mikhael. I said, but you know you're not allowed 647 00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:23,360 Speaker 11: to eat kebab right Then he said, okay, then I 648 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:26,840 Speaker 11: want a hamburger, but you're also not allowed to have 649 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:29,880 Speaker 11: a hamburger. But he said, Mom, how long have I 650 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:32,920 Speaker 11: been here? I said, it's been more than two weeks, 651 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 11: my darling. He said, are you serious? And you stayed 652 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,200 Speaker 11: with me this whole time? I said, yes, you know 653 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,680 Speaker 11: that your mom is always going to be there. 654 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,720 Speaker 1: When I met with Mikael last summer, he couldn't feel 655 00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:49,080 Speaker 1: his fingers at all. Cigarettes would fall from his hands 656 00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,560 Speaker 1: and he wouldn't even notice, and because his hands were numb, 657 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,080 Speaker 1: he couldn't go back to his job sorting the mail. 658 00:43:56,080 --> 00:43:59,280 Speaker 1: Natalie said he was still struggling with short term memory loss, 659 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,719 Speaker 1: things like forgetting appointments repeatedly or not remembering parts of 660 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:07,279 Speaker 1: conversations he had the day before, but he still goes 661 00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,759 Speaker 1: out to the streets to protest. There's a fear now 662 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,359 Speaker 1: that he didn't have before, because he's deeply aware that 663 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 1: he could have died, and because he saw the scared 664 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:19,759 Speaker 1: look in the eyes of his eleven year old son. 665 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:26,840 Speaker 4: The Manu for Pacific Peaceful protests, yes, but protests with 666 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:34,480 Speaker 4: violins no, that's it. That's finished. I want to return 667 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:39,520 Speaker 4: home in one piece. I do not want to return 668 00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:47,520 Speaker 4: home damage it or worse, especially since police violence during 669 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:51,320 Speaker 4: protests has become so common. 670 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:56,000 Speaker 1: It's been almost a year since the Sansolin protest upended 671 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:59,359 Speaker 1: the lives of so many activists. Mikhael is on track 672 00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:02,960 Speaker 1: to make a four recovery. He's finally regained enough strength 673 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:05,640 Speaker 1: to go back to work at the post office, and 674 00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:07,960 Speaker 1: he and his mum Natalie, have gone back to their 675 00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:12,319 Speaker 1: roundabout to protest with their Yellow ves comrades. But the 676 00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:14,879 Speaker 1: other man who was hit, the one who was hit 677 00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:18,520 Speaker 1: in the head, wasn't so lucky. He woke up from 678 00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:22,080 Speaker 1: his coma after several months, but he's still regularly in 679 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:26,080 Speaker 1: the hospital. His body no longer functions like it used to, 680 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,919 Speaker 1: and he can no longer do the things he once did. 681 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:34,440 Speaker 1: He now has hearing and visual impairments, frequent pain, chronic 682 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:38,120 Speaker 1: fatigue and paralysis in his face. He has a lot 683 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:44,560 Speaker 1: of trouble just moving around on his own. After months 684 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:48,520 Speaker 1: of back and forth, in November, Franc's highest court announced 685 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:52,000 Speaker 1: that the government decree to disband the Earth Uprisings was 686 00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:56,920 Speaker 1: thrown out. It said that although activists engaged in provocative 687 00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: and violent acts against property, it's disbanded was not appropriate, 688 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:06,160 Speaker 1: necessary and proportionate to the situation. Their members are now 689 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:10,400 Speaker 1: free to protest again and their membership has skyrocketed. At 690 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:14,080 Speaker 1: the same time, water reservoirs are still being built and 691 00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:17,880 Speaker 1: France is still not meeting the emissions reduction commitments it 692 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:21,360 Speaker 1: made as part of the Paris Agreement. In preparation for 693 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:24,880 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four Olympics, the government has displaced people 694 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:29,239 Speaker 1: and destroyed natural habitats and arable land, and another law 695 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:33,640 Speaker 1: was passed to prevent climate protesters from disrupting sports events. 696 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:39,560 Speaker 1: Yet people continue to protest, even though they risk so 697 00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:42,000 Speaker 1: much and so rarely see the. 698 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:43,080 Speaker 2: Results of their labor. 699 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:47,720 Speaker 1: Corin Morel Daleux is a French ecosocialist, activist and writer. 700 00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:53,440 Speaker 1: In her book proto Kuli flute sentras which means better 701 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:57,160 Speaker 1: to sing beautifully than to stay afloat without grace. She 702 00:46:57,200 --> 00:47:00,080 Speaker 1: grapples with trying to find a moral compass in this 703 00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:05,880 Speaker 1: ongoing environmental collapse. In it, she writes, I feel compelled 704 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:09,920 Speaker 1: to continue, not in the hope of future victories. No, 705 00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:13,000 Speaker 1: if I stay focused, it is no longer with the 706 00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:16,239 Speaker 1: goal of winning one day. It is vain to aim 707 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:19,040 Speaker 1: to change the world. The only thing we can try 708 00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:22,279 Speaker 1: to do is protect its beauty as a token of 709 00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:26,960 Speaker 1: our own humanity before we have ruined everything. If we 710 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:31,160 Speaker 1: must continue, it is for that, for the dignity of 711 00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:38,040 Speaker 1: the present. Drilled is an original Critical Frequency production. This 712 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:41,880 Speaker 1: episode was written and reported by me Ana Pujel Mezzini. 713 00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:47,239 Speaker 1: Translations for Natalie were voiced by Drella Farce. Translations for 714 00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:50,920 Speaker 1: Miguel were voiced by Mathieu Armiel. Thank you to the 715 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,560 Speaker 1: so as Kaylie band for capturing the crowd playing the 716 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:56,440 Speaker 1: victory song Lupieux at the Zed in twenty eighteen. 717 00:47:57,440 --> 00:48:00,000 Speaker 3: Our senior editor for the series is Eileen Brown. 718 00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:04,760 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Amy Westervelt, who also fact checked 719 00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:05,600 Speaker 1: this episode. 720 00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:09,319 Speaker 4: Sarah Ventry and Martin Saltzawstweak are senior producers. 721 00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:13,000 Speaker 7: Martin also did the sound design, scoring, and composed much 722 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:13,600 Speaker 7: of our music. 723 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:17,239 Speaker 3: Mixing and mastering by Peter Duff, who also composed some 724 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:20,760 Speaker 3: of the music in this episode. Matt Fleming does our artwork. 725 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,120 Speaker 2: Jim Sweeton is our First Amendment attorney. 726 00:48:24,719 --> 00:48:27,040 Speaker 3: You can check out more reporting for this series and 727 00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:30,400 Speaker 3: corresponding print stories at drilled dot Media. 728 00:48:31,320 --> 00:48:33,960 Speaker 1: There you can also sign up for a newsletter and 729 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:37,000 Speaker 1: for a weekly roundup of the most important climate stories 730 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:37,799 Speaker 1: and studies. 731 00:48:38,560 --> 00:48:41,239 Speaker 2: That's it for this time, Thanks for listening, and we'll 732 00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:42,200 Speaker 2: see you next week.