The ‘Act 12’ of rolling protests will be a march “dedicated” to the scores of demonstrators who have been injured in the rallies, Eric Drouet, one of the top public figures in the citizen-led revolt, told France’s RMC radio. Saturday’s protest will be to “condemn” the violent acts committed against protesters. He said: “So many yellow vests have been injured but it’s a taboo subject – they never make the news.”
Mr Drouet also stressed there had been “many more serious” casualties among yellow vests than among police, who have repeatedly clashed.
Some 1,900 yellow vests and 1,200 police have been injured since the protests began in mid-November, according to officials. Although some estimate that the number of activists hurt may be double that number.
People have either been hit by grenade debris or rubber bullets, or beaten up. In addition, 11 people have died, most in car and motorbike accidents caused by roadblocks.
But the use of so-called defence ball launchers (LBDs) has angered protesters, who have accused riot police of using unnecessary force.
The riot guns – which shoot 40-millimetre (1.6-inch) rubber rounds – have reportedly injured dozens of yellow vests.
They are designed to not rip through skin while still packing enough force to stop individuals from advancing.
The controversy over their use was reignited after Jerome Rodrigues, another yellow vest leader and a friend of Mr Drouet’s, said he had been hit in the eye by an LBD rubber bullet during a protest in Paris last weekend.
Police initially said a non-lethal grenade had exploded in front of Mr Rodrigues and he was hit by shrapnel, but footage obtained by the French satirical TV show Le Quotidien appears to contradict this scenario.
The video, broadcast on Wednesday night, shows a police officer firing rubber bullets at a group of retreating protesters, including Mr Rodrigues, his rifle aimed at head level.
Police and government officials have defended the use of LBDs, but refuse to say how many people have been injured by the weapons, which are not supposed to be aimed at a person’s head.
They argue yellow vests have been attacking police with glass bottles, paving slabs, acid and bolts, and that the LBDs are one of the best and only ways to keep violent rioters at bay.
The yellow vest movement, named after the luminous safety jackets all French motorists must keep in their cars, started as a backlash against rising fuel prices.
However, they have spiralled into a wider rebellion against President Emmanuel Macron’s liberal economic policies and perceived indifference to the needs of the struggling working class.
The weekly demonstrations have often turned violent, with protesters beating up police and vice versa. Radical protesters known as “casseurs,” or breakers, have torched cars and looted shops.
The 41-year-old centrist has since sought to press the reset button with a nationwide debate he hopes will generate new policy ideas and quell yellow vest unrest.
The debate will focus on four themes – taxes, green energy, institutional reform and citizenship.
However, an Elabe poll for BFM TV published on Wednesday showed that two-thirds of French people (66 percent) do not think the policy debate will force Mr Macron to change his style of governing or into policy concessions.
Only 33 percent of respondents said the social crisis would mark a positive turning point for the Macron government.
The survey also showed that while 57 percent described the young leader as “brave,” 78 per cent described him as “authoritarian” and 76 percent as “arrogant”.
Some 51 percent said the ex-banker was “disconnected from the realities of everyday life” and 47 percent said his social and economic policies “favour the wealthy”.
The Elabe poll of 1,001 people aged 18 and over was carried out online between January 29-30.