Police arrest 1,300 protesters as French riots flare in Paris

More than 1,300 people were arrested across France on Saturday as protests that had begun peacefully in the morning turned violent in several cities. Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up crowds in Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux, where barricades were set on fire and shop windows smashed. Interior Ministry officials say the crackdown kept the violence from reaching the scale of last weekend’s riots, which saw widespread looting and arson.

The demonstrations are part of a nationwide protest movement against rising living costs and perceived failures in the education system. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said about 410,000 people marched on Saturday, while union figures put the number closer to 800,000. President Emmanuel Macron had earlier this week announced that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be legal, a rule that has already led to hundreds of convictions for vandalism and arson after fast‑track court hearings. Seventy thousand police officers were deployed, and restrictions were put in place in several cities to prevent the protests from devolving into the chaos that left officers outnumbered and businesses damaged last week.

Clashes erupted most violently in Paris, where a peaceful march from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes ended when police, including an elite counter‑terrorism unit, fired tear gas at protesters who had erected makeshift barricades and hurled projectiles. In Marseille, rubbish bins were set ablaze and metal sheets blocked streets, while a law‑enforcement vehicle was seen driving through a burning barricade. Bordeaux protesters removed boards from a building to build a street barricade, and in Lyon police used tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered in an off‑limits area. The interior ministry said 53 officers were injured in the clashes, and 142 people were arrested in Paris, less than half the number arrested on the same day the previous week.

The French courts are now holding fast‑track hearings on the arrests, with many defendants facing charges of vandalism, arson and looting. The government has signalled that it will tighten controls on future demonstrations, but the protests are likely to continue as long as the cost‑of‑living crisis and school reforms remain unresolved. The events underscore the delicate balance between protecting public order and respecting citizens’ right to protest, a tension that will shape France’s political climate in the coming months.