Nearly 1,000 people were arrested across France on Saturday as a second weekend of protests over living costs ended in clashes in Paris, Marseille and other cities. The arrest total, given by Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, is the clearest measure of how a largely peaceful day of marches turned violent after dark, despite one of the largest police deployments in recent French history.
Authorities said 500 rioters clashed with law enforcement in Paris alone, though the level of violence was not comparable to the confrontations of the previous weekend. In Paris, police had already conducted more than 3,000 checks and made 65 arrests earlier in the day, before the main demonstration of at least 110,000 people on the capital’s southeastern fringes.
Where the violence happened
After the main Paris rally ended, riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at a group of around 500 hooded youths, who eventually dispersed on a cold, rainy evening. In Marseille, youths set fire to rubbish bins to block roads, threw rocks and bottles at security forces, and fired mortar fireworks towards officers, while police said several stores, including two jewellery shops, were ransacked.
Clashes were also reported in Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Rennes, Nantes and Toulouse. Nunez said that in almost every march, high risk groups broke away from the main body and sought to commit acts of violence, accusing far left activists and criminal gangs of seeking to foment trouble.
Less violent than last weekend, still alarming
As Reuters reported, Nunez argued the violence was less intense than a week ago, when looters and vandals went on the rampage, thousands of businesses were damaged, and more than 2,000 people were taken into custody. “What changed was anticipation,” he said, pointing to the 70,000 police officers and gendarmes deployed this time.
Less violent is not the same as peaceful, and nearly 1,000 arrests in a single day is a striking figure for a democracy policing its own streets. The government can claim its preparation worked, because the damage was smaller than on October 17. The protesters can claim the numbers prove their movement is too large to police away. Both claims will be tested again next weekend, when the same streets fill once more.
