Fires and Clashes Rock France Amid Massive Nationwide Protests
Nationwide marches over inflation drew 500,000 people, the CGT union said, as looters stripped stores and police used tear gas in several cities.
- Police clashed with protesters in Paris and other French cities on Saturday as nationwide inflation marches turned violent, resulting in more than 130 arrests after masked youths set fires and threw projectiles.
- France's Yellow Vest movement, which staged protests eight years ago against fuel tax hikes, joined the demonstrations; the CGT union estimated 500,000 participants nationwide citing grievances over climate, economy, and inequality.
- Masked rioters looted an Apple store in Lille and a Hermes boutique in Marseille while protesters torched parked cars and smashed town halls; one demonstrator lost a hand during the chaotic scenes.
- Far-Right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen blamed "rioters" for sullying the protests and claimed the far left "hijacked" the agenda, while far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon insisted the marches were peaceful.
- Widespread unrest deepens political uncertainty as France prepares for elections in six months to replace President Emmanuel Macron, with student representative Ryad Rani warning "the government is trembling.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Fires and clashes rock France amid massive nationwide protests
Protesters clashed with police in Paris and other French cities on Saturday as hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest higher living costs and the declining conditions in schools and other public services. Several town halls were broken into – and in at least one instance set on fire – and many shops were vandalised and ransacked. One protester had his hand torn off by a crowd-control grenade used by police.
More than half a million people protested in France, burning cars and a town hall. <p>In France, protests against the cost of living and fuel prices were accompanied by clashes, arson and robbery. Burned in Limoges historic town hall.</p>
The tiredness of more than 800,000 people for the high cost of living was present this Saturday throughout France
This Saturday France lived a day of mass protests across the country called on social networks by a very disparate collective that degenerated into destruction and looting of public buildings and shops, on a day marked by great violence, for which the Government and the far right held the radical left accountable.
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