France arrests 980 as evening protests turn violent

French police arrested 980 people on Saturday as nationwide protests over the cost of living and school conditions shifted from daytime marches to nighttime clashes in multiple cities. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez provided the arrest count late in the day, noting that the total would likely increase as reports from local jurisdictions were finalized.

The Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people participated in the demonstrations. Unions, however, claimed the turnout reached approximately 800,000. To manage the events, authorities deployed roughly 70,000 police officers and imposed restrictions in several major urban areas. These measures aimed to prevent a recurrence of the severe disorder seen the previous week, when hundreds of businesses were looted and buildings were set on fire.

President Emmanuel Macron issued a decree earlier in the week stating that only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions would be permitted. In the days following the previous weekend's unrest, fast-track court hearings led to the jailing of hundreds of individuals charged with vandalism, arson, and looting.

In Paris, the atmosphere changed at the conclusion of a march from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes. An elite police unit, typically assigned to counter-terrorism and organized crime, joined the operation. Protesters constructed makeshift barricades and threw projectiles at officers. Police responded with batons, charging groups of masked youths who were smashing the windows of a car dealership.

Nuñez stated that several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march. According to the AFP, approximately 500 of these individuals were identified as rioters. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds in Paris and other locations.

Violence also occurred in Marseille, where protesters set fire to barricades and used metal sheets to block streets. In Lyon, police fired tear gas at a crowd that had gathered in an area declared off-limits by the local prefecture. One protester, who said there were around 150 students in their group, noted that visibility was extremely low due to the gas.

Two people were seriously injured during the events, according to Nuñez. One injury occurred in Toulouse, and the other in Clermont-Ferrand. In Bordeaux, onlookers watched as individuals tore boards off a shop, a sign of the physical tension that characterized the evening.

Demonstrators expressed strong frustration during the marches. Zelie, a 26-year-old protester in Paris, told the BBC that people were suffering a lot and that the situation had become too much. Two masked teenagers stated that their generation felt abandoned by the government. One of the teenagers acknowledged that looting was not good but cited poverty and police violence as contributing factors.

In Orléans, about 13,000 people rallied peacefully against the hard-right National Rally party. The unrest also extended beyond France's borders. In Tirana, Albania, riot police fired tear gas at anti-government demonstrators. In Brussels, clashes were reported, while in Milan, soldiers and police prevented protesters from gathering to avoid a repeat of the previous week's violence.

The current unrest follows a week when approximately 550,000 people protested rising fuel prices and living costs. More than 2,500 arrests followed that weekend, and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimated damage to over 2,000 shops at hundreds of millions of euros. About 1,000 police officers were injured, and one demonstrator lost a hand to a crowd-control grenade. With presidential elections six months away, leading candidates are blaming Macron and his ministers for the instability.