France Interior Ministry Records 980 Arrests Amidst Fresh Protest Clashes

French authorities reported 980 arrests on Saturday after nationwide protests turned violent in several major cities.

The interior ministry estimated that 410,000 people participated in the demonstrations, a figure unions contested by claiming around 800,000 attendees. Approximately 70,000 police officers were deployed across the country to manage the crowds. Officials imposed restrictions in multiple cities to prevent the unrest from escalating into the chaos seen a week earlier, when hundreds of businesses were looted and buildings were torched.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that nearly 1,000 people had been arrested and that the number would likely increase. He reported two serious injuries, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand. Nuñez noted that several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the marches, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters.

President Emmanuel Macron had decreed earlier in the week that only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions would be permitted. This measure followed fast-track court hearings in which hundreds of people were jailed for vandalism, arson, and looting. The protests center on the cost of living and poor conditions in schools.

Trouble in Paris began at the end of a peaceful march from Porte d'Italie towards Porte de Vincennes. Police units, including an elite force typically assigned to organized crime and counter-terrorism operations, engaged with protesters who built makeshift barricades and threw projectiles. Officers charged with batons at groups of masked youths who smashed the windows of a car dealership.

In Marseille, residents and protesters set rubbish bins alight and used metal sheets to block streets. In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered in an area the local prefecture declared off-limits. One protester, who said there were around 150 people including secondary school and university students, noted that visibility in the street was nearly zero due to the gas.

Protesters expressed deep frustration with the current administration. Zelie, a 26-year-old protester in Paris, told the BBC that people were suffering a lot and that it had been too much. Two masked teenagers said their generation felt abandoned, with one blaming poverty and police violence for the unrest. They stated that looting was not good but would continue until demands were met.

In Orléans, approximately 13,000 people rallied peacefully against the hard-right National Rally party. Unrest also spread to other European capitals, with riot police firing tear gas at anti-government demonstrators in Tirana, Albania, and clashes reported in Brussels. In Milan, hundreds of soldiers and police prevented protesters from gathering to avoid a repeat of the previous week's violence.

Last weekend, about 550,000 people demonstrated against rising fuel prices, leading to more than 2,500 arrests. Over 2,000 shops and businesses were directly affected, with the Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimating damage at hundreds of millions of euros. About 1,000 police officers were injured, and one demonstrator lost a hand to a crowd-control grenade. With presidential elections six months away, leading contenders have blamed Macron and his ministers for the situation.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds in Paris, Marseille, and other locations. In Bordeaux, people were seen tearing boards off a shop. The authorities appeared to avoid the widespread rioting of last weekend, which produced some of the worst disorder in France's modern history.