A STRONG police presence was deployed in Paris on Saturday for planned demonstrations by the “yellow vest” protesters.

Thousands of “yellow vests” took to the streets of the French capital, despite pleas for calm after the shooting in Strasbourg earlier this week.

French authorities repeated calls for calm after protests in previous weekends turned violent.

Security forces in riot gear were positioned around central railway stations and along the famous Champs-Elysees boulevard, where shops were closed and their windows boarded up in anticipation of the protests.

Authorities said about 8000 police officers and 14 armoured vehicles were being deployed in the French capital. As for the rest of the country, around 69,000 have been deployed.

Last weekend, groups of demonstrators looted stores, clashing with police and setting up burning barricades in the streets. Around 135 people were reported to be injured following the protests.

The “yellow vest” movement, which takes its name from the fluorescent safety vests French motorists all have in their vehicles as a matter of law, emerged in mid-November as a protest against fuel tax increases.

It soon expanded into an expression of rage about the high cost of living in France and a sense that President Emmanuel Macron’s government is detached from the everyday struggles of workers.

There was a strong police presence on Saturday outside the central Saint Lazare station, where police in riot gear checked bags.

More than 20 police vans and a water cannon truck were parked nearby. Hundreds of people began converging on the Champs-Elysees during the morning.

“We’re here to represent all our friends and members of our family who can’t come to protest, or because they’re scared,” said Pierre Lamy, a 27-year-old industrial worker wearing a yellow vest and with a French flag draped over his shoulders as he walked to the protest with three friends.

He said the protests had long stopped being about the fuel tax and had turned into a movement for economic justice.

“Everything’s coming up now,” he said. “We’re being bled dry.”

On Friday, Macron called for calm during the demonstrations, and the French government reiterated the call online for demonstrators to remain peaceful.

“Protesting is a right. So let’s know how to exercise it,” the government tweeted from its official account, with a 34-second video which begins with images of historic French protests and recent footage of “yellow vests” rallying peacefully before turning to violence.

“Protesting is not smashing. Protesting is not smashing our heritage.

“Protesting is not smashing our businesses ... Protesting is not smashing our republic,” the video says.

“France needs calm, order and a return to normal,” Macron said.

The government warned that the protests are taking a toll on the country’s economy.