Clashes, Fires and Looting Mark Nationwide French Protests Over Living Costs and School Conditions

On Saturday evening in the Place de la République, in northeast Paris, police fired tear gas and water cannons at people in hoods and masks who were throwing fireworks, paving stones and other objects at officers. Associated Press reporters saw thick black smoke rising from burning cars, bicycles, other vehicles and trash bins. A newspaper kiosk burned, and several shops were looted. Some incidents were still going on in central Paris as night fell.

The violence came out of a day of marches across France against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 110 marches drew about 550,000 people nationwide. Organizers, including the CGT labor union and student organizations, put the figure at about 800,000. Nuñez said about 400 people were arrested, most of them adults.

Nuñez blamed what he called extremely violent, radical far-left groups that sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and local government offices. He said they had been joined by offenders ready to loot shops. President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that there is no place for violence in the Republic, and that those who vandalized property, attacked government offices and businesses, and looted town halls would be prosecuted and punished. He said France would stand united against those who sow chaos and keep people from expressing their demands peacefully.

In Paris, many metro stations were closed at police request, including those around the Champs-Elysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices. Meanwhile, most demonstrators joined a peaceful march toward northwestern Paris, singing the national anthem, waving flags, and playing trumpets and violins.

Outside the capital, the damage was widespread. In Lyon, where about 20,000 people marched, a fire broke out inside a tourist office. In Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, and protesters briefly forced their way into the City Hall lobby. Nuñez reported attacks by masked groups on local government buildings in Bordeaux, break-in attempts at the city halls in Lille and Calais, and an attempt on a police station in Brest. Violence also erupted in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier and Grenoble. In Limoges, in central France, the City Hall was set on fire, and flames were still raging that evening.

Many marchers answered social media calls to revive the yellow vest movement, which began in 2018 against social injustice, and wore the fluorescent vests that symbolized it. Anger centered on gasoline, energy and food prices, which have spiked in recent months. Sonia Mabrouk, 40, came from a western Paris suburb with her daughter, a high school student, to protest what she called everything going wrong, especially neglect of public services. A veteran of the yellow vest protests, she criticized policies that favor the rich and hit the poorest in their wallets. She described a general sense of frustration and anger. The CGT called for higher wages and pensions, lower prices and protection of public services. Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who backed the high school students' movement, marched in Paris. Student groups, who have blockaded schools since mid-September, urged supporters to join.

The day also renewed scrutiny of policing. Authorities opened an investigation after a young protester was badly injured and lost a hand in Saint-Etienne. Nuñez declined to confirm French media reports that a police grenade explosion caused it. Several people were also injured in the Paris clashes.

Police use of grenades and other riot-control weapons was already under sharp criticism. In recent weeks France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire, as the new school year turned into nationwide student protests that are shaping the presidential campaign. Nuñez suspended a type of stun grenade against high school demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand, but the suspension does not cover other protests, including Saturday's. The Saint-Etienne investigation is the next thing to watch.