PARIS — Security forces arrested nearly 1,000 people across France on Saturday after massive demonstrations over education funding and the rising cost of living gave way to evening clashes in several cities, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
Authorities mobilized up to 70,000 police officers and gendarmes nationwide, deploying water cannons, armored vehicles and helicopters to avoid a repeat of widespread looting that caused extensive property damage a week earlier. The French Interior Ministry estimated that roughly 410,000 people took to the streets across the country, while labor organizers from the General Confederation of Labor placed overall attendance much higher, at approximately 800,000.
Landmarks shutter and clashes flare in the capital
In Paris, major cultural institutions including the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais shut their doors Saturday to protect against potential unrest. Shopkeepers boarded up storefronts with wooden planks, and organizers of the Art Basel fair called off their weekend events.
Hoping to keep crowds away from central districts, authorities ordered the main Paris march shifted to the southeastern edge of the capital. Thousands marched from Porte d’Italie in cold rain behind trade union banners. While the front of the procession finished peacefully, violence erupted near its conclusion at Porte de Vincennes, where radical demonstrators threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at police lines.
Officers answered by discharging tear gas and firing water cannons into the crowd. Paris prosecutors said 64 people, including six minors, were taken into custody, primarily on suspicion of weapons violations or conspiring to commit violence and property destruction. Nuñez stated that several thousand radical activists had assembled at the rear of the demonstration, including roughly 500 people identified by authorities as rioters.
Discontent spreads across French regions
The unrest follows weeks of student-led walkouts that began in September over staffing shortages at a high school outside Paris. Grievances rapidly widened to encompass everyday economic pressures, with national statistics bureau INSEE reporting that September energy costs had surged 21.3 percent compared to the prior year, pushing annual inflation to 3.1 percent.
Confrontations extended far beyond the capital on Saturday:
- In Nantes, thousands forced their way past security lines to reach the city center, prompting officers to respond with water cannons and tear gas.
- In Lyon and Nice, where local officials had prohibited public gatherings, police used chemical agents and water cannons to break up unauthorized crowds.
- In Toulouse, where officials counted 26,500 participants, Nuñez reported that a 20-year-old man had his fingers blown off under circumstances that remain unclear.
- In Clermont-Ferrand, Nuñez noted that one person suffered serious injuries as officers deployed tear gas.
Elsewhere, thousands gathered in Orleans to demonstrate against a party congress hosted by far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Demonstrators chanted slogans against both Le Pen, who is preparing a presidential campaign ahead of elections in six months, and President Emmanuel Macron.
Pressure mounts on Macron administration
The spreading demonstrations arrive as Macron navigates the closing chapter of his presidency with voter approval ratings hovering near historic lows. Far-right opponents have seized on the disorder, accusing the administration of losing control over basic public safety.
Nuñez had offered to step down earlier in the week after acknowledging police struggled during previous riots, but Macron rejected the resignation. While Saturday’s looting was far less severe than the previous weekend, Nuñez said security forces would remain on high alert overnight. Meanwhile, activist networks and Yellow Vest organizers have already issued calls for another round of national demonstrations on Oct. 31.
