PARIS, Oct 25: Nearly 1,000 people were arrested after hundreds of thousands joined protests across France on Saturday over the cost of living and poor school conditions. Clashes broke out in several cities late in the day following largely peaceful demonstrations, the BBC reported.
Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in Paris and other cities. In Marseille, demonstrators set fire to barricades, while protesters in Bordeaux removed boards from a building to construct street barricades. Authorities managed to prevent disorder on the scale of last weekend, when widespread looting and arson caused some of the worst unrest in modern French history, according to the BBC.
France’s Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people took part in Saturday’s protests, while trade unions put the figure at around 800,000. Some 70,000 police officers were deployed across the country, with restrictions imposed in several cities to prevent further violence, the BBC reported.
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President Emmanuel Macron had announced earlier in the week that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted. Hundreds of people have already been jailed for vandalism, arson and looting following expedited court hearings in recent days, the BBC mentioned.
In Paris, clashes erupted after a march from Porte d’Italie towards Porte de Vincennes. Some protesters erected makeshift barricades and threw objects at police, while officers charged groups of masked youths accused of smashing windows at a car dealership. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said several thousand radical activists had gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 people identified as rioters, the BBC reported, citing AFP.
In Marseille, protesters set fire to rubbish bins and used metal sheets to block streets. In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered in an area declared off limits by local authorities, according to the BBC.
Nuñez said nearly 1,000 people had been arrested by late Saturday, adding that the figure was expected to rise. Two people were seriously injured, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand, the minister said, according to the BBC.
Protesters said economic hardship and frustration with the government had driven them onto the streets. A 26-year-old woman identified as Zelie told the BBC that people had suffered since Macron took office and felt unable to voice their grievances.
Two masked teenage protesters also said young people felt abandoned by the government. One condemned looting but blamed poverty and police violence for the unrest. The protests would continue until the government responded to their demands, he said, according to the BBC.