Clashes broke out between protesters and police in several French cities on Saturday, with security forces deploying tear gas in Paris and Lyon late in the afternoon. According to a statement from the French Ministry of the Interior (ministère de l'Intérieur), 320,000 people took part in the protests across the country, while 70,000 were in Paris. 296 people were arrested.
Tensions in the capital escalated after protesters reached the end of their route on the southern edge of Paris. Intervention police ordered them to leave the area, but the dispersal of the gathered crowd proceeded slowly. Fireworks explosions could be heard in Paris, and footage from television channel BFMTV showed protesters throwing incendiary devices at intervention police, causing several officers to catch fire.
Clashes with police were also reported in Rennes and Toulouse. In Rennes, individuals fired projectiles at police officers, the local prefecture stated. In Marseille, footage showed objects burning in the streets and firefighters extinguishing fires.
The protests were organised by trade unions, school and student organisations, as well as the Yellow Vest movement, which emerged in France in 2018. Young people have been protesting for weeks over a lack of staff and equipment in schools, and other groups joined the demonstrations from mid-October, mainly due to high cost of living.
This is the third major wave of gatherings in the past three weeks. According to official figures, more than 500,000 people protested on 17 October, and around 410,000 people on 24 October. Around 70,000 police officers and other security personnel were deployed across France for Saturday's protests. A similar number of security forces was deployed last weekend, which largely prevented the violence and destruction seen on 17 October.
The Ministry of the Interior had earlier warned of an increased risk of violence, particularly during the evening hours, when additional gatherings were expected.
