Paris and several other French cities witnessed "extreme" violence on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the "high cost of living," six months before the presidential elections.
Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said entire streets in the capital had been "vandalized," while masked youths set cars on fire and looted shops.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced Saturday evening that 1,200 people had been arrested in connection with the protests, and 150 police officers had been injured.
Violence erupted on the sidelines of demonstrations in Paris and other cities protesting the rising cost of living. The Interior Ministry said around 550,000 people participated, while the CGT union estimated the number at 800,000.
Police, deployed in several neighborhoods of the capital, resorted to using tear gas against hundreds of demonstrators, most of whom wore black clothing and masks. Some of the protesters threw projectiles and fireworks at the officers.
In Saint-Étienne, a 17-year-old boy had his right hand amputated after a police stun grenade exploded.
- Looting -
During and after the demonstrations, groups of young people roamed the streets of several cities, sometimes clashing with police. They also set fires, attacked closed shops, and looted their contents.
The looting affected dozens of shops, including department stores, pharmacies, luxury goods outlets, clothing stores, cosmetics shops, and electronics stores, in Paris, Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Limoges, Lille, Toulouse, and Strasbourg.
AFP correspondents in Paris reported that small groups of young people carried out the looting in an organized manner. Wearing masks and gloves, they disabled security cameras before smashing shop windows and breaking into the stores.
The looting was accompanied by a wave of vandalism targeting several municipal buildings. A fire broke out in the historic Limoges town hall (in the city center), as well as in a building in downtown Grenoble (in the French Alps) and a branch of the tourist office in Lyon.
A local official reported that the historic building in Limoges, over 140 years old, was largely destroyed by a fire started by masked protesters after they stormed it.
Two other municipal buildings in Marseille and Lille were also stormed and vandalized, while a police station in Bordeaux and a tourist office in Lyon were also targeted.
In Paris, around 100 protesters attacked the headquarters of CNews television, owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, throwing projectiles at the facade, according to police.
The violence has attracted international attention, with US Vice President Jay D. Vance attributing it to immigration and the problem of "integration."
Vance wrote on X, "Western liberals have exported the Third World to France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They have ignored fundamental questions of integration and inclusion."
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged via X to prosecute and punish "all those who have committed acts of vandalism, attacked institutions or businesses, or participated in looting, even within municipalities."
"There is no place for violence," he said. "We will all stand united against the instigators of chaos, who seek to destroy our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so."
For her part, far-right leader and front-runner in the presidential election, Marine Le Pen, condemned the "riots," accusing her left-wing rival Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party of "legitimizing violence."
She said she would protect the French people from "radical left-wing violence" if she won the presidency.
In contrast, Mélenchon, who has supported the demonstrations and previously the student protests, called on participants to refrain from looting, saying it "goes against our methods."
- "Revolution" -
The "Yellow Vest" movement, which led widespread protests eight years ago against Macron and his government, called for Saturday's demonstrations to unite "the Yellow Vests and the youth," urging teachers, workers, retirees, farmers, and students to participate.
In Paris, tens of thousands marched through eastern and northern districts of the capital, chanting slogans including "Everyone hates the police" and "Macron, resign."
In Marseille, protesters, whom Mayor Benoît Payant described as "vandals," briefly stormed the city hall. One of them shouted, "We are storming the Bastille," a reference to the storming of the fortress of the same name during the French Revolution in 1789.
In La Rochelle (western France), demonstrators marched behind a banner reading "Revolution or Death."
In Montpellier, in southern France, a huge blue banner was displayed proclaiming "The people will prevail."
"The government is trembling, and it has every right to be," Riadh Rani, president of the Union of High School Students, told reporters in Paris, "because when the French people are angry, they never back down."
- A call for "calm and respect" -
Unions have called on public and private sector employees to demonstrate and strike on November 5, primarily to demand better wages and services.
In the Eurozone's second-largest economy, which is struggling under a heavy debt burden, the convergence of protest movements from various sectors comes amidst social tensions fueled by rising fuel prices and declining purchasing power.
Around 1,500 protest actions were announced on Saturday across France on a dedicated website. Sources close to the Interior Minister reported 500 "anticipated" actions and more than 90 planned demonstrations.
Macron recently stated that the students' "legitimate" demands were being "exploited for political purposes," according to a government spokesperson.
In Belgium, hundreds demonstrated on Saturday in Brussels and Liège, mirroring the protests in France. Some gatherings in the country were marred by acts of vandalism, which authorities blamed on "troublemakers."
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