Police clash with masked rioters after largely peaceful protests across France
Clashes have erupted in Paris, Marseille and other cities after tens of thousands of demonstrators marched across France in a third wave of protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services.
About 320,000 people took part in rallies around the country, the interior ministry said, including 70,000 in Paris who marched along boulevards on the south-eastern outskirts, avoiding the city centre. As evening approached and the largely peaceful demonstrations came to an end, police in several cities fired teargas and stun grenades to disperse crowds joined by groups of masked rioters.
Police deployment
France's interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said earlier this week 70,000 police and gendarmes, including elite units, would be deployed in an effort to quell violence on the protests' sidelines, warning that Saturday looked like 'a very high risk' day.
Paris violence
The Paris protesters set off peacefully from the Porte de Bagnolet near the ring road, holding placards with slogans including 'No need for teargas to make our future look bleak' and 'Disguised as an angry citizen for Halloween'. On and around its destination, the Porte de Charenton, dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to pry up paving stones and hurl them at police.
A hardcore of several hundred rioters was attacking police with projectiles including a molotov cocktail
Protesters' demands
The marches brought together school students, who have been calling for better conditions for a month, trade unions and gilets jaune (yellow vests) protesters united in anger at the cost of living, widening inequalities and Emmanuel Macron's government.
The French economy is doing badly no matter what happens, because today we're being run by a group of incompetents who juggle billions while families are struggling with a few cents
European unrest
Protests also took place elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, police fired water cannon to disperse protesters who hurled fireworks and other projectiles at the end of youth-led protests organised by a group called 'Gen Z regelt!' (Gen Z will sort this). Similar tensions were reported in Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg.
Police were also on alert in Barcelona after an anonymous TikTok network called Blocus urged new gatherings, and in Italy after recent clashes with protesters in Milan, Turin and Bologna.
Student protesters vowed to stage new high school and university blockades on Tuesday and Thursday before joining a 5 November demonstration called by workers and trade unions.
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