Police have fired teargas and clashed with protesters as tens of thousands took to the streets across France over high prices and the fraying of a social welfare system meant to provide a basic level of opportunity and security.
Marseille Town Hall Stormed
In Marseille, protesters stormed the town hall, ramming the door with security barriers they removed from the street. They briefly managed to enter the municipal building, where a protester spray-painted an “A” for anarchy on a wall before the police removed them.
In the capital, police fired teargas at protesters who were firing fireworks and other projectiles at authorities in the Place de la République, north-east of the city centre. “We’re taking the Bastille!” one demonstrator yelled, a reference to the French Revolution. Other protesters threw projectiles and broke windows at the headquarters of right-leaning TV broadcaster CNews in the city.
Nationwide Mobilisation
French authorities detained dozens of protesters across the country, with more arrests expected as the main rally starting at 2pm local time. Saturday’s mobilisation follows calls on social media to revive the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice.
The protests began last month at schools in the poor northern suburbs of Paris, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards. Saturday’s protests called for teachers and students, labourers, pensioners and farmers to join the protests and widen the movement.
French authorities said 140 protests involving 32,800 people had been recorded outside Paris by midday, blaming the unrest and violence on what they said was the “ultra-left”.
Union Backing and Political Reactions
The CGT, one of France’s biggest labour unions, has also backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs”. About 45% of French people are worried about the rising cost of living and inflation, according to a 2,000-person survey conducted in October.
Protesters in hi-vis vests blocked streets, an echo of the unrest that dogged President Emmanuel Macron’s previous term, and in Marseille rubbish bins were set alight. Both the far left and far right in France sought to capitalise on the protest movement, with the left positioning itself on the side of the protesters and the right backing the police. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, marched in a demonstration on Tuesday and has expressed support for student protesters.
Government Response and Warnings
A large police presence was visible in central Paris, especially near landmarks such as the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, which were excluded from the routes of the two official demonstrations. About 100 people walked towards the police at the beginning protest yelling, “all cops are bastards!”.
“We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions,” said a 19-year-old protester in Paris who gave her name as Lola.
Macron is entering the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarised electorate and a badly fragmented political landscape. On Friday, the president appealed for calm and respect for people and property as officials warned of possible violence. “There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself, and I have always been vigilant and attentive that that right is fully respected,” he said. “But this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.” Macron denounced as “unacceptable” the potential presence of people “solely to cause damage and create unrest”.
The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said hundreds of protest actions and more than 80 marches were expected nationwide, including spontaneous gatherings, street demonstrations and blockades. Police banned some other proposed gatherings in central Paris. Many Métro stations were closed on Saturday at the police’s request, including those around the Champs-Élysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.
In recent weeks, there have been thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country’s presidential election campaign and drawing international attention. The police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen allegations of police violence, while the French prime minister said that more than 900 police officers had been injured. Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand, but said that they could be used on Saturday. On Tuesday, the climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
