Europeupdated 20m ago2 min read
MapLaurent Nunez Says Police Detained Nearly 1,000 After Paris Clashes During France Protests
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Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said nearly 1,000 arrests nationwide. Clashes erupted in Paris and other cities amid cost-of-living and education protests.
France protests, police on alert
France’s Interior Ministry counted 410,000 people who hit the streets across the country on Saturday, down from the 550,000 who protested last weekend, as small clashes erupted at Paris protests and authorities kept police on high alert. Laurent Nunez said 249 protests took place in France on Saturday, just over half of the 430 protests recorded on October 17, and he added that police had detained close to 1,000 people by about 7.30pm on Saturday. The ABC News & Headlines account said the government reported nearly 1,000 arrests after clashes erupted in Paris and other French cities over school funding and the cost of living.
The AFP account said French police arrested "nearly 1,000" people across the country as Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described an "extremely elevated level of violence" from black-clad extremists. The BBC said clashes followed a largely peaceful day of demonstrations, with police firing tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in a number of cities including Paris.
Paris route, tear gas, arrests
In Paris, the march began at Porte d’Italie and moved toward Porte de Vincennes, along the Boulevards des Marechaux, by 5pm local time, before tension flared as police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd. Clashes between protesters and riot police in Paris erupted at the end of a peaceful march from the city's Porte d'Italie towards Porte de Vincennes on Saturday. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police were confronted with "an extremely elevated level of violence" from "ultra-left" groups later in the day, while AFP said ultra-left groups threw projectiles and aimed fireworks at police to provoke clashes.
A demonstrator bleeding from a baton blow told AFP, "They were just taking people down, you know, beating protesters," as police pushed back demonstrators. The BBC said the interior ministry estimated a total 410,000 people turned out nationwide on Saturday, with 110,000 in Paris, while the CGT estimated 800,000 across the country and 250,000 in Paris.
Europe-wide ripple and next steps
Anti-government demonstrations were also taking place in other European countries, with police in Albania using water cannon during clashes with protesters and scuffles reported in Italy as hundreds gathered in Naples, Rome and Milan. Mass protests triggered by similar issues also rocked several other European cities on Saturday, including clashes reported in Belgium’s capital Brussels and tear gas used by riot police in Tirana, Albania. The October 17 demonstrations descended into looting and the worst urban rioting France had seen in years, and the latest protests were largely peaceful despite sporadic clashes.
The Yellow Vests said they would hold another round of protests on October 31, and organisers called for rallies and a sit-in outside parliament and city halls nationwide. France braces for a second wave of protests after worst riots in years, and more than 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were being deployed across the country to prevent a repeat of last weekend’s violent demonstrations.