French police arrest 980 as new protest wave turns violent

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested in France on Saturday, October 24, as nationwide protests over living costs and school conditions escalated into street clashes.

The Interior Ministry stated that 980 individuals were detained, a figure Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said would likely increase. Two people suffered serious injuries during the unrest, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand.

While the daytime marches remained largely peaceful, tensions rose in the evening in several cities. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons in Paris, Marseille, and other locations. In Marseille, protesters set fire to barricades and used metal sheets to block streets. In Bordeaux, demonstrators tore boards from a shop.

Authorities estimated the turnout at 410,000, although trade unions claimed approximately 800,000 participants. Around 70,000 police officers were deployed to manage the crowds. This large deployment aimed to prevent a recurrence of the severe disorder seen the previous weekend, when officers were outnumbered and hundreds of businesses were looted.

President Emmanuel Macron had earlier in the week decreed that only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions would be permitted. In the days following the previous protests, fast-track court hearings resulted in hundreds of jail sentences for vandalism, arson, and looting.

In Paris, the disturbance began at the end of a march from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes. Police, including an elite unit typically assigned to counter-terrorism, charged at groups of masked youths with batons. Some protesters threw projectiles and built makeshift barricades. Nuñez said several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 identified rioters.

In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd in an area the local prefecture had declared off-limits. One protester, who said they were part of a group of about 150 students, noted that visibility was poor due to the gas. In Orléans, about 13,000 people rallied peacefully against the hard-right National Rally party.

Demonstrators expressed frustration over economic conditions. Zelie, a 26-year-old Paris protester, told the BBC that people were suffering and that the situation had been too much. Two masked teenagers said their generation felt abandoned, with one blaming poverty and police violence for the unrest. They stated the protests would continue until demands were met.

The unrest extended beyond French borders. In Tirana, Albania, riot police fired tear gas at anti-government demonstrators. Clashes were also reported in Brussels, while in Milan, hundreds of soldiers and police prevented protesters from gathering amid fears of repeat violence.

The previous weekend saw about 550,000 people demonstrate against fuel prices and living costs. More than 2,500 arrests followed, and over 2,000 shops were affected, with damage estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. About 1,000 police officers were injured. With presidential elections six months away, leading contenders have blamed Macron and his ministers for the instability.