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Several cars were set on fire and various shops were looted in Paris on Saturday as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who joined demonstrations called throughout France against the rising cost of living and in support of the grievances of high school students.
The office of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported a “growing number of violent incidents” across the country, including attacks on officers, looting, and damage to public buildings. Police made at least 272 arrests throughout France, including in Paris.
Protesters from across the country answered calls on social media to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Participants in the protests expressed widespread frustration and anger toward the government due to the steep increases in gasoline, energy, and food prices in recent months.
Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to push back people wearing hoods and masks who were throwing fireworks, cobblestones, and other objects at officers at the Place de la République, northeast of the city center.
Reporters from The Associated Press saw thick black smoke rising from burning cars, bicycles, and other vehicles, as well as trash dumpsters. A newsstand was also burning, while several shops had been looted. Several people have been injured in the clashes.
Police attempted to prevent other small groups of protesters from converging on government buildings, Nuñez's office indicated.
Many Metro stations were closed on Saturday at the request of the police, including those around the Champs-Élysées and near the presidential palace, Parliament, and government offices.
Meanwhile, the majority of peaceful protesters joined a march that moved toward the northwest of Paris. The crowd chanted the French national anthem and waved flags, and some people played trumpets and violins.
In Lyon, France's third-largest city, where some 20,000 protesters joined the march, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.
In the southern port city of Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, while several protesters forcibly broke into the lobby of City Hall.
“This is unacceptable,” Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan told BFM TV, describing the damage at City Hall as “limited.”
Nuñez's office also reported acts of violence by masked groups in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier, and Grenoble, among other cities.
Sonia Mabrouk, 40, said she came from a suburb west of Paris with her daughter, a high school student, to protest “everything that is going wrong,” particularly the neglect of public services. Mabrouk, who participated in the yellow vest protests, criticized “policies that favor the rich and always hit the poorest in their pockets.”
Many protesters wore the fluorescent yellow vests that became a symbol of the 2018 demonstrations. “There is a general feeling of frustration and anger,” said Mabrouk, as she marched alongside peaceful protesters of all ages.
The Saturday protests come after weeks of school walkouts.
Student groups protesting since mid-September via school walkouts have urged their supporters to join in.
The CGT, one of France's main unions, also supports the protests and is demanding “higher wages and pensions, lower prices, and the protection of public services that cover the population's needs.”
The organization stated that more than 500,000 protesters joined the demonstrations on Saturday.
In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and schools set on fire as the start of the new school year turned into nationwide student protests that are influencing the presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.
Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who backed the high school student movement, also participated in the Paris protest on Saturday.
Among the protesters, some particularly gruesome injuries suffered by teenagers have been blamed on police crowd-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against young protesters after a 15-year-old lost a hand.
[Publicidad]