Police clash masked rioters as France protests draw 320,000
Clashed with masked rioters in Paris and other French cities after demonstrations over living costs and public services drew about 320,000 people. The rallies…
PARIS — Police clashed with masked rioters in Paris, Marseille and other French cities on Saturday as about 320,000 people joined demonstrations over the cost of living and deteriorating public services. The rallies were largely peaceful before violence flared as they ended, prompting police to use tear gas and stun grenades.
The demonstrations drew fewer people than the previous weekend, when an estimated 410,000 took part, according to France’s interior ministry. In Paris, 70,000 people marched along boulevards on the city’s south-eastern outskirts, avoiding the centre.
The split between peaceful marches and clashes at their edges shaped the day. Officers faced groups of masked people in several cities while students, unions and yellow-vest protesters pressed demands over household costs, inequality and public services.
Where did police clash with masked rioters?
In Paris, protesters began marching peacefully from Porte de Bagnolet near the ring road. As the march reached its destination at Porte de Charenton, dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to pry up paving stones and throw them at police, while at least one incendiary device was thrown at security forces.
The Paris police prefecture said a group of several hundred rioters attacked officers with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges, saying officers were moving to restore public order.
In Lyon, protesters threw projectiles at police, who fired tear gas. In Toulouse, officers used water cannon against an unauthorised protest attended by several thousand people, mostly young demonstrators. The clashes came after officials had warned of a high risk of disorder.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had said earlier in the week that 70,000 police and gendarmes, including elite units, would be deployed. He described Saturday as “a very high risk” day.
At least 296 people had been detained across France by 6 p.m. local time, according to the interior ministry. The ministry said groups it described as radical elements tried to enter city centres in several towns to cause damage and loot, and that police intervened to stop them.
What are protesters demanding?
The marches brought together school students who have called for better conditions for a month, trade unions and yellow-vest protesters. Their anger centred on living costs, widening inequalities and the government of Emmanuel Macron.
Jérôme Rodrigues, a protester in Paris, said families were struggling as the economy performed poorly and accused those in power of mismanaging public money. He said demonstrators had come to keep making their demands heard.
In Nantes, protester Camille Guérin said the movement opposed the cost of living and the far right, while supporting students’ demands and a greater public voice.
The scale of the demonstrations and the violence at their margins carry different consequences for residents. Crowds and clashes disrupted public order in several cities, while the deployment of police and the use of tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon marked the authorities’ response. The ministry’s figures also showed the turnout was lower than the 410,000 estimated the previous weekend, even as protests continued across the country.
Saturday’s rallies followed widespread street violence and looting during the first wave of mass protests on October 17. Student protesters vowed to stage new high school and university blockades on Tuesday and Thursday, then join a November 5 demonstration called by workers and trade unions, Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Étudiante said.
“Then we will join the 5 November demonstration called by workers and trade unions,” Kharbach said.
In Germany, police also used water cannon as youth-led protests over living costs and public services ended in clashes. In Cologne, officers said protesters had targeted them with fireworks; demonstrations there and in other German cities took place alongside the French rallies.
France’s interior ministry put Saturday’s national protest turnout at about 320,000 people.
