Protestsupdated 1m ago3 min read
France Interior Minister Laurent Nunez Deploys RAID as Police Fire Tear Gas in Paris Protests
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Laurent Nunez announced deployment of about 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide. Security operation accompanied by use of tear gas and water cannons.
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Second wave, heavy deployment
France’s Ministry of Interior said 410,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday, including 110,000 in the capital, as a second wave of mass protests kicked off across the country. The CGT put the figure at 800,000 nationwide and 250,000 in Paris, and the march in Paris started in Porte d’Italie before reaching Porte de Vincennes by 5pm local time. France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 20 percent more officers would be deployed than during the previous weekend, and he said the operation would involve RAID, an elite police unit usually tasked with “counterterrorism” and other high-risk interventions.
“France’s Ministry of Interior said 410,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday, including 110,000 in the capital.”
Police fired tear gas and water cannons in parts of central Paris to disperse protesters, while the route was pushed to the city’s edge after the originally negotiated central road between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation was banned. The protests followed October 17 unrest that included widespread looting, vandalism and clashes, with more than 2,000 people taken into police custody according to official figures.
Route bans and arrests
In Paris, police said they fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters near the end of the march after some protesters threw projectiles at police. The Paris prosecutor’s office reported the detention of 64 people in connection with the protests, with 40 held by police including six minors, and it said most detentions were linked to suspicions of possessing weapons or preparing to commit acts of violence and property damage. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the intensified police presence would prevent violence and looting, warning against many calls for violence, describing them as clear messages from rioters.
In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse about 150 protesters in an area where demonstrations were prohibited, near a university building and a police center, after protesters tried to block the road. In Paris, police said more than 3,000 checks were conducted and 65 arrests were made, while the ‘Yellow Vest’ movement announced it will hold a protest on October 31.
Pressure on Macron, next steps
The BBC described student and other protesters in Paris as fearing violence from authorities, with Julian saying, “We’re becoming a police state,” and Anaïs saying, “the government is using violence to repress us - they bear responsibility for what has happened here”. The BBC said the authorities would get breathing space for a matter of days at the most, with more protests planned and rolling strikes called by the unions from next month. France’s Interior Ministry said 35,000 demonstrators were counted by 1 p.m. in Paris, compared with 60,000 the week before, and it said the demonstration procession ran along the southeastern outskirts from Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes for safety reasons.
“The unrest is shaking Macron's authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May.”
The BBC said the government had no money to throw at the problem, France was divided, and the president was in the twilight of his stay at the Élysée Palace. The stakes were framed as political and immediate, with the CBC saying the unrest was shaking Macron’s authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May.