Yellow Vest Anger Burns in France, Fueled by Notre Dame Fire

A man bangs a drum in front of a fire on the street during a yellow vest demonstration in Paris, on April 20, 2019. Michel Euler/AP Photo

PARIS—French yellow vest protesters set fires along a march route through Paris on Saturday, April 20, to drive home their message to a government they see as out of touch with the problems of the poor: that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn’t the only problem France needs to solve.

Like the high-visibility vests the protesters wear, the scattered small fires in Paris appeared to be a collective plea to the government to “look at me—I need help too!”