France Detains 980 Protesters as 410,000 March Against Rising Costs
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported nearly 1,000 arrests after evening clashes in Paris, Marseille, and Bordeaux disrupted a largely peaceful day of nationwide demonstrations.
By Samir Doyle ·
French authorities detained 980 people on Saturday as a new wave of nationwide protests turned violent in several major cities.
The Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 demonstrators took to the streets, while trade unions claimed the turnout reached approximately 800,000. The protests focused on the rising cost of living and deteriorating conditions in schools. About 70,000 police officers were deployed to manage the crowds, a significant increase from the previous week when officers were outnumbered and hundreds of businesses suffered damage.
Demonstrations remained largely peaceful throughout the day. In Paris, trouble began at the end of a march from Porte d'Italie toward Porte de Vincennes. Police deployed an elite unit typically assigned to counter-terrorism and organized crime. Protesters constructed makeshift barricades and threw projectiles at officers. Police responded by charging with batons at groups of masked youths who were smashing windows at a car dealership.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 identified rioters. In Marseille, demonstrators set fire to barricades and used metal sheets to block streets. In Bordeaux, crowds tore boards off a shop. In Lyon, police fired tear gas at a crowd of about 150 people, mostly students, who gathered in an area declared off-limits by the local prefecture.
Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds in multiple locations. Nuñez reported that two people were seriously injured, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand. He noted that the arrest count would likely rise. The government had decreed earlier in the week that only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions would be permitted. Fast-track court hearings have already jailed hundreds of individuals for vandalism, arson, and looting.
Protesters expressed deep frustration with the government. A 26-year-old woman named Zelie told the BBC that people were suffering and that the situation had become too much. Two masked teenagers stated that their generation felt abandoned. One of them acknowledged that looting was not ideal but blamed poverty and police violence. They said the protests would continue until their demands were met.
Unrest also spread to other parts of Europe. Riot police in Tirana, Albania, fired tear gas at anti-government demonstrators. Clashes were reported in Brussels, and soldiers and police in Milan prevented protesters from gathering to avoid a repeat of the previous week's violence. Last weekend, approximately 550,000 people demonstrated against fuel prices and living costs, leading to more than 2,500 arrests and hundreds of millions of euros in damage to over 2,000 businesses.
With presidential elections six months away, leading political contenders have blamed President Emmanuel Macron and his ministers for the unrest. The previous week's disorder saw about 1,000 police officers injured and one demonstrator lose a hand to a crowd-control grenade. The current arrests follow a pattern of strict enforcement aimed at preventing widespread rioting and looting.
