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Clashes Erupt in France as Hundreds of Thousands Protest
Confirmed
In Short: While the third consecutive weekend of nationwide protests was largely peaceful, tensions erupted in several cities later Saturday.
In Lyon, France's third-largest city, protesters threw projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire tear gas, according to a journalist at the scene.
In Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorized protest that drew several thousand young demonstrators.
While the third consecutive weekend of nationwide protests was largely peaceful, tensions erupted in several cities later Saturday.
A young protester in Paris said, 'We are fighting not only for our demands but also for our right to protest.' Another female protester complained that France's national ideals of 'liberty, equality, and fraternity' had now turned into injustice, inequality, and privilege.
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed anger and shame over recent violence in France.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that nearly 1,000 people were arrested on the sidelines of Saturday's protests, a figure he expects to rise.
What this adds
The protests, largely peaceful, saw clashes in several cities, with police using tear gas and water cannons.
Protests continued across France, with blockades at 222 of the 1,027 lycées affected by the movement's actions on Thursday.
Hundreds of stores have been looted in Paris and other French cities, including Saint Laurent, Celine, Dior, and Louis Vuitton, as looters took advantage of the protests.
Protests also unraveled in Spain, Belgium, and Portugal over the past few weeks, with tensions escalating since the weekend.
Background
Hundreds of thousands protested in France on Saturday, demanding better education and lower living costs.
What's confirmed
- In Lyon, France's third-largest city, people threw projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire tear gas, according to a journalist at the scene.
- While the third consecutive weekend of nationwide protests was largely peaceful, tensions erupted in several cities later Saturday.
What's still developing
- Trade unions, school and student organizations, and the grassroots Yellow Vest movement, which first rose to prominence in France in 2018, called for Saturday's protests.
- Turnout stood at 320,000 nationwide, the interior ministry said, lower than the 410,000 seen the previous Saturday and 550,000 on October 17, when riots erupted across the country.
- “Shopkeepers can’t wait for Saturday to be over,” Di Crescenzo told broadcaster France Inter.
- The protests in over 30 German cities were ignited by a youth-led initiative called Gen Z regelt (Gen Z gets things done) and remained largely peaceful despite the police cancelling a planned march in Cologne after some participants wore face coverings and set off smoke bombs.
- According to interior ministry figures, 1,027 lycées of the 3,700 across France had been affected by the movement's actions on Thursday, with blockades at 222 of them.
- The Local Europe AB Västmannagatan 43 113 25 Stockholm Sweden Blockades at French high schools were set to continue on Friday after a day of mounting tension and clashes with police as students staged protests over classroom conditions and a lack of resources.
- Hundreds of stores have been looted in Paris and other French cities, including Saint Laurent, Celine, Dior and Louis Vuitton, as looters took advantage of the cost of living and inequality protests that have gathered both students and members of France’s Yellow Vests movement.
- More protests unraveled in Spain, Belgium and Portugal over the past few weeks, with tensions escalating since the weekend.