Protestsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Masked Protesters Set Lyon Tourism Office Ablaze as Police Use Tear Gas in Paris
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Masked demonstrators set Lyon tourism office ablaze as police used tear gas. Demonstrations drew tens of thousands across Paris and other French cities.
Paris and Marseille flare
Police and protesters clashed in Paris and other French cities on Saturday as masked youths set a tourism office in Lyon ablaze and riot squads used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds. Protesters broke into the town hall in Marseille, overturned a bust and smashed furniture before police forced them out, and the mayor called for police reinforcements. In Paris, tens of thousands marched across the east and north of the city, with some shouting "Everyone hates the police" and "Macron, resign".
High school student Kamil Alahyan, 18, said he was protesting "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". Police fired a water cannon and teargas when hundreds of protesters wearing face masks confronted them at several locations, and police said more than 130 people were arrested in the capital.
Detentions, tear gas, claims
The Interior ministry source told AFP that more than 32,000 protesters participated in around 140 actions nationwide outside Paris shortly after midday on Saturday, and the source said police detained more than 160 people nationwide. Aude, a masked student who did not give her surname, said, "We’re here to protest the deplorable resources allocated to education and against police brutality," as protesters confronted police. In Paris, police fired a water cannon and teargas after hundreds of protesters, most wearing face masks and some setting off fireworks, confronted them at several locations, AFP reporters saw.
The BBC described a scene where "the air is thick with tear gas" and said protesters continued to clash with police, while the BBC also reported that "Many of the buildings surrounding us have been smashed into". The BBC quoted the prefecture confirmation that CRS 8 was intervening in the Les Halles area, saying, "CRS 8 is intervening in the Les Halles area".
Political stakes and security
President Emmanuel Macron urged "respect for people and property" as he called for calm, and the government and security forces prepared for a state of alert ahead of major demonstrations scheduled across France. Marine Le Pen, who sided with the police, said on X, "Looting, pillaging, attacking police -- rioters have once again sullied the October 17 demonstrations over the cost of living." Jean-Luc Mélenchon insisted that "everything is passing off peacefully" in most of the nationwide demonstrations, while accusing television news of "flooding us with images of violence in dozens of cities".
The BBC said the protests were fuelled by calls for greater investment in schools and reported that two police officers were injured by projectiles and that "violent individuals" dismantled barriers at a Christmas market and used them against police. France’s Union of Senior Staff of Internal Security (Syndicat des cadres de la scurite intrieure, SCSI) said a Hugo Boss store in Lyon was looted and set on fire after other businesses were also "ransacked".