France Puts 70,000 Police on Streets as Crowds Top 400,000

The French government deployed more than 70,000 police officers on Saturday as it estimated at least 400,000 people marched in cities nationwide, with trade unions putting the figure at 800,000. In Paris, the interior ministry counted at least 110,000 people along the eastern edge of the city. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 135 people were arrested across France.

Shops were boarded up and many museums closed ahead of the marches. The government had prepared for a repeat of the previous Saturday, when public buildings burned, hundreds of shops were destroyed and looted, and at least 2,700 people were arrested in some of the country's most violent unrest in years.

The Paris route stayed calm for most of the afternoon, with brass bands playing and children and grandchildren in the crowd. Banners read 'Oppression breeds rebellion' and 'The right to protest'. Tensions rose at the end of the day at Porte de Vincennes, where masked groups in black who had not joined the march threw glass bottles and stones at police. Officers replied with teargas, water cannon and stun grenades. A bin was set alight and fireworks were fired toward police.

Teargas was also used to keep protesters from reaching city centers in Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse. Bin fires burned during clashes in Marseille. Nunez said weapons confiscated at marches included metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, steel balls, improvised weapons, a katana sword and airsoft weapons.

The protests began in mid-September, when students aged 15 to 18 demonstrated against staff shortages, leaking and crumbling buildings, and a lack of chairs in overcrowded classrooms. Trade unions, teachers and parents later joined. Police investigations are under way after some children and protesters were maimed and injured by explosive police weaponry.

Marchers also voiced anger over the cost of living and over policing tactics. Nadège, a 43-year-old communications worker, said she had been teargassed at a peaceful demonstration the previous weekend. 'I'm out again peacefully today to support everyone who is brave enough to demonstrate. It does take courage. People are afraid now,' she said. 'In France, it's our legal right to protest in the street and I'm here to defend that.'

Jérôme Rodrigues, a key figure from the gilets jaunes protests of 2018 and 2019, said: 'Today the government is afraid; that is why they are pushing demonstrators to the edge of the city, away from places of power.' He said demonstrations were likely to continue each weekend. Some marchers wore yellow vests recalling those earlier protests.

In Orléans, thousands marched with anti-fascist slogans against a congress held by Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party. Le Pen is a frontrunner in next year's presidential election, and Macron steps down next year. 'Macron, resign. Le Pen in prison,' the crowd shouted.