135 Arrested as 70,000 Officers Guard 400,000 Marchers

The French government deployed 70,000 police officers to guard a nationwide protest on Saturday, a move driven by fears of repeat violence after a chaotic weekend in the previous week. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez reported that 135 people were arrested across the country during the demonstrations.

The government estimated that at least 400,000 people participated in the marches. Trade unions, however, placed the total at 800,000. In Paris alone, authorities counted at least 110,000 marchers along the eastern edge of the city. The massive turnout forced the closure of many museums and led shop owners to board up their windows in anticipation of unrest.

Protesters joined the march to support high school students who have demanded more teachers and repairs for crumbling buildings since mid-September. The movement has expanded to include parents, teachers, and trade unions. In Paris, the atmosphere remained relaxed for much of the afternoon, with brass bands playing and families walking together. Banners criticized the government's handling of the crisis, with slogans such as "Oppression breeds rebellion" and "The right to protest" visible to onlookers.

Tensions rose near the end of the Paris route at Porte de Vincennes. A group of masked men in black, who did not appear to be part of the main peaceful crowd, threw glass bottles and stones at police. Officers responded with teargas, water cannons, and stun grenades. Similar clashes occurred in Marseille, where bin fires were lit, and in Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Toulouse, where teargas was fired to keep protesters away from city centers.

The government had feared a repeat of the previous Saturday, when France experienced one of its most violent days of unrest in years. During that prior event, public buildings were burned, hundreds of shops were looted, and at least 2,700 people were arrested. Current police investigations are underway after some children and protesters were injured by explosive police weaponry.

The crisis has drawn criticism of President Emmanuel Macron, who is in his final months in office. Protesters objected to his ban on non-union demonstrations he deemed illegitimate and his strategy of keeping marchers away from city centers. Nadège, a 43-year-old communications worker who was teargassed the previous weekend, said, "In France, it's our legal right to protest in the street and I'm here to defend that." Jérôme Rodrigues, a figure from the 2018 gilets jaunes movement, noted that the government was pushing demonstrators to the edge of the city and that protests were likely to continue each weekend.

In Orléans, thousands of people marched against a congress held by Marine Le Pen's National Rally party. The crowd chanted "Macron, resign. Le Pen in prison." Nunez stated that weapons were confiscated during the arrests, including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, steel balls, improvised weapons, a katana sword, and airsoft weapons.