Police arrested 1,314 people and 53 officers were injured during Saturday’s protests across France, the interior ministry said on Sunday, as authorities defended a reinforced security operation aimed at keeping marches safe and protecting shops.
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Demonstrations over the cost of living and the defence of public services passed off peacefully for much of the day on Saturday, although clashes later broke out in several cities, including Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Tours. Police used tear gas during confrontations.
Around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed nationwide – 20 percent more than on the previous Saturday, when widespread violence and looting caused extensive damage in the capital.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Saturday evening that “the marches went smoothly”, while acknowledging “a great many” incidents of violence. The ministry’s updated nationwide arrest figure on Sunday replaced his initial estimate of nearly a thousand.
In Paris, police reported 142 arrests, with 126 people taken into custody.
Speaking to France Inter on Sunday, Paris police headquarters spokesperson Hélène Denéchère said the capital’s demonstration had drawn a similar number of protesters to the previous week, but had unfolded under markedly different security conditions.
Paris march ends in clashes after largely peaceful protests across France
Shops under reinforced protection
Denéchère said protecting businesses had been a central objective of the policing operation, following the damage inflicted during the protests on 17 October.
“The security measures put in place were specifically designed to provide maximum protection for shops,” she said.
One shop was broken into and robbed, while another business – a car dealership – was damaged. Police intervened quickly at the dealership and prevented people from entering, she added.
According to Denéchère, the Paris march itself proceeded smoothly, as did much of the dispersal. Trouble centred on around “500 rioters” at the back of the procession near Porte de Vincennes, at the south-eastern edge of the capital.
They “sought to attack the police and also to damage property in the vicinity of the march”, she said.
The account highlighted a more contained episode of damage to businesses than the previous weekend, when unauthorised processions and widespread looting accompanied the Paris protests.
According to Paris City Hall, 450 shops were damaged over that weekend, including 228 that were looted.
France mobilises 70,000 police and gendarmes for Saturday protests
Lessons from the previous weekend
Police acknowledged that their preparations for the 17 October demonstration had underestimated both the number of people intent on causing trouble and the intensity of the violence.
“The influx of people looking to cause trouble – their numbers and the level of violence – was misjudged on 17 October,” Denéchère said.
For Saturday’s mobilisation, she said, police had worked to anticipate both violence within the march and the arrival of people seeking to exploit the gathering to loot businesses.
The operation was designed to secure the demonstration while deterring and preventing those intent on violence from attending, she explained.
The heavier deployment came as protesters again took to the streets to demand greater purchasing power and defend public services.
(with newswires)