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Yellow Vests Fuel France’s Decades-Worst Riots as Police Clash With Protesters

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Hundreds of high schools closed nationwide amid student protests over education conditions. Police clashes with protesters; hundreds arrested; a 15-year-old student lost a hand.

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Yellow Vests Fuel France’s Decades-Worst Riots as Police Clash With Protesters
Image: 조선일보
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France protests turn violent

Protesters took to the streets across France on October 17, with the El Correo report saying between 800,000 people according to unions and 550,000 calculated by the Interior Ministry supported demonstrations called in Paris and other localities. The El Correo report said the day ended with numerous and serious episodes of urban violence that crossed the country, and it cited Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reporting 1,200 arrests and 150 police and gendarmes injured. The 조선일보 report described large-scale protests marred by looting, arson, and violence, and it said an estimated 800,000 people took to the streets in major cities including Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, and Marseille.

The 조선일보 report said the Place de la République protest hub in Paris began peacefully in the morning, with participants playing and singing the French national anthem La Marseillaise on instruments, before some protesters turned into rioters in the afternoon as the crowd entered the central area around the Louvre Museum. The AFP report said police and protesters clashed in Paris and other French cities Saturday, with masked youths setting a tourism office in Lyon ablaze and riot squads using tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds confronting them.

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Image: 20 Min
Reporting for this sectionEl CorreoAFP

Arrests, clashes, and slogans

The AP report said police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent protesters who joined nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs and in support of high school students’ grievances, and it said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s office reported “a growing number of violent incidents” across the country. The AP report said police made at least 272 arrests across the country, including in Paris, and it described thick black smoke rising from cars, bicycles and other vehicles at Place de la République. The AFP report said tens of thousands marched across the east and north of Paris, with some shouting “Everyone hates the police” and “Macron, resign,” and it quoted Agnes, a 50-year-old actor, saying, “For years we've had climate, economy and equality problems but the government is not doing anything about it,” as she marched.

The AFP report said high school student Kamil Alahyan, 18, protested “for so many reasons -- the elections coming up in 2027, politicians who lie, the ultra-rich who've been taking more and more wealth over the past 10 years”. The AFP report said opposition politicians seized on the protests, and it quoted far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on X saying, “Looting, pillaging, attacking police -- rioters have once again sullied the October 17 demonstrations over the cost of living.”

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Image: 20 Minutes
Reporting for this sectionAP NewsAFP

Government response and pressure

The El Correo report said the protests responded to the demonstrations with a firm “we will not be intimidated,” and it said Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu responded to the protests with that stance. The El Correo report said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported 1,200 arrests and 150 police and gendarmes injured, while it also said the fury of the student movement in recent weeks was felt on the streets. The AP report said many metro stations were closed Saturday at police request, including those around the Champs-Elysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices, as police tried to prevent other small groups of protesters from converging on government buildings.

The AP report said the CGT backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs,” and it said more than 500,000 protesters joined the rallies Saturday. The AFP report said Macron urged “respect for people and property,” and it quoted Macron on Friday saying, “Violence has no place in France,” while vowing to strictly punish acts of public property destruction and looting as clashes erupted at protest sites.

Reporting for this sectionEl CorreoAFP