Interior Ministry counts 980 arrests after Saturday protests in France
Police deployed 70,000 officers to contain a new wave of demonstrations that drew between 410,000 and 800,000 people across the country.
By Kwame Silva ·
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced late Saturday that nearly 1,000 people had been arrested as the latest round of nationwide protests ended in clashes in several French cities. The minister stated that the figure would likely rise and confirmed that two people sustained serious injuries, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand.
The demonstrations, which largely remained peaceful during the day, turned violent in the evening. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons in Paris, while barricades were set on fire in Marseille and shop fronts were damaged in Bordeaux. Officials credited a heavy security presence with preventing the widespread rioting and looting that characterized the previous weekend.
Turnout figures vary by source. The interior ministry estimated that 410,000 people participated, while trade unions claimed the number reached approximately 800,000. To manage the crowds, authorities deployed about 70,000 police officers and imposed restrictions in multiple cities. These measures were designed to prevent the protests, which focus on cost of living and school conditions, from degenerating into the chaos seen a week prior when officers were outnumbered and hundreds of businesses were looted.
In Paris, disturbances began at the conclusion of a march from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes. An elite police unit, typically assigned to counter-terrorism, joined the operation. Protesters erected makeshift barricades and threw projectiles at officers. Police charged with batons at groups of masked youths who were smashing windows at a car dealership. Nuñez told AFP that several thousand radical activists, including around 500 identified rioters, gathered at the rear of the march.
Violence also occurred in Lyon, where police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd in an area declared off-limits by the local prefecture. A protester told the BBC that about 150 people, mostly students, were present and that visibility was poor due to the gas. In Marseille, residents set rubbish bins on fire and used metal sheets to block streets.
President Emmanuel Macron had issued a decree earlier in the week allowing only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions. In the days following the previous weekend's unrest, hundreds of people were jailed for vandalism, arson, and looting through fast-track court hearings. Demonstrators expressed frustration with the current administration. A 26-year-old Paris protester named Zelie said people were suffering and that the situation had become too much. Two masked teenagers claimed their generation felt abandoned and blamed poverty and police violence for the unrest.
The unrest extended beyond France's borders. Riot police fired tear gas at anti-government demonstrators in Tirana, Albania, and clashes were reported in Brussels. In Milan, hundreds of soldiers and police blocked protest gatherings after fears of a repeat of the previous week's violence. About 13,000 people also rallied peacefully in Orléans against the National Rally party.
The current protests follow a major demonstration last weekend that drew approximately 550,000 people against rising fuel prices. That event resulted in more than 2,500 arrests and damage to over 2,000 shops, with losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros. About 1,000 police officers were injured in the previous round, and one demonstrator lost a hand to a crowd-control grenade. With presidential elections six months away, leading candidates have begun assigning blame to Macron and his cabinet.
