Protests07 November, 20263 min read
Archive photo · 5 February 2022France’s Protests Continue As Interior Ministry Reports 146,000 Ralliers, Police Use Tear Gas
“Police have been accused of using excessive force, with officers using barricades, tear gas and batons against protesters.”
“Although Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is scheduled to meet with trade and employee unions on Monday, organizers say the only thing that will quell anger will be for the government to bow to their demands.”
Photo: Mohatatou, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
146,000 protesters nationwide, according to France’s Interior Ministry. 46,000 protesters in Paris, per the Interior Ministry.
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Paris, Lyon, and arrests
France’s protest movement showed little sign of easing as the Interior Ministry said 146,000 people rallied across the country on Saturday, including 46,000 in Paris, while unions put the figures at 250,000 and 75,000. Police used tear gas and batons on protesters in Paris and fired tear gas canisters at hundreds of people blocking a road in central Lyon, and about 70,000 security personnel were deployed. Authorities reported 350 arrests nationwide by the evening, and DW said clashes between police and protesters were reported in Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux.
The New York Times described the crowds as smaller than in previous weeks’ demonstrations, while a general strike two days earlier brought more than half a million people into the streets. In Paris, police headquarters said an authorized march proceeded peacefully from Republique to Nation before tensions erupted after police said some 200 “violent individuals” attacked law enforcement after a man was arrested for setting fire to a trash can.
Police force and protesters
Police used tear gas and batons on protesters in Paris and officers used barricades, tear gas and batons against protesters, with UN experts later expressing alarm at the “excessive use of force” by French authorities. France Lucat, 44, said, “I am also very shocked by the police violence,” and she traveled 25 miles to join the demonstration in Paris. DW reported that the Interior Ministry said the afternoon in Paris remained mostly calm, with some isolated incidents reported in the evening involving the deployment of tear gas.
Al Jazeera reported that a teenager in Lille lost a hand when a grenade exploded as school protesters clashed with police. The New York Times said the protests evolved last month from a student-focused movement into a national one, and it quoted Lucat saying, “That’s also why I came,” because she was afraid and “I shouldn’t be afraid.”
Spreading discontent across Europe
Demonstrations over rising living costs, low wages and a lack of public services broke out in 30 other European countries from Portugal to Poland, and between September 15 and October 30 more than 1,700 protests and riots of 100 or more people took place across Europe. France saw more than 1,200 protests and riots between September 15 and October 30, followed by Spain (173), Italy (160), Germany (70) and Portugal (33), and Spain’s rallies followed parliament rejecting two emergency housing decrees on October 2. DW said the fourth weekend of mass demonstrations came as the Interior Ministry expected up to 170,000 people to protest nationwide, including 60,000 in Paris, and it reported that organizers gave a higher nationwide count of over 250,000 protesters.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was scheduled to meet with trade and employee unions on Monday, while an inter-union coalition statement said, “The only thing that will bring the protests to an end is a response to the demands that have been put forward for several weeks by workers, civil servants, young people and pensioners.” ACLED CEO Clionadh Raleigh said ACLED had recorded an average of 20.5 demonstrations a day in France over the past five years, and she said the current protest cycle had jumped to almost 66 a day.