French Interior Ministry Confirms 980 Arrests as Protests Turn Violent

The interior ministry confirmed that 980 people were detained on Saturday, a figure officials say will continue to rise as counts from other cities are finalized. This new wave of unrest followed a largely peaceful day of marching that descended into street fighting in the evening.

Police forces across France deployed 70,000 officers to manage the demonstrations, which centered on the cost of living and deteriorating school conditions. The interior ministry estimated the total turnout at 410,000, while trade unions claimed the number reached 800,000. These figures reflect a massive mobilization intended to prevent a recurrence of the severe disorder seen just one week prior.

In Paris, the situation deteriorated near the end of a march from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes. An elite police unit, typically assigned to counter-terrorism, joined the crowd. Protesters constructed barricades and threw objects at officers, who responded with baton charges against masked youths breaking windows at a car dealership. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated that approximately 500 individuals identified as rioters gathered at the rear of the march.

Violence also marked the streets of other major cities. In Marseille, demonstrators set fire to barricades and blocked roads with metal sheets. In Lyon, police deployed tear gas against a group of roughly 150 students in a zone declared off-limits by the local prefecture. A protester in Lyon described the air as so thick with smoke that visibility was nearly zero. In Bordeaux, onlookers observed people removing boards from a shop facade.

President Emmanuel Macron had issued a decree earlier in the week restricting official demonstrations to those organized by recognized trade unions. This move followed fast-track court hearings in recent days that resulted in hundreds of convictions for vandalism and arson. The government's strategy aimed to maintain order without replicating the chaos of the previous weekend, when officers were outnumbered and over 2,000 businesses sustained damage.

Two individuals sustained serious injuries during the protests, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand, according to Nuñez. Demonstrators expressed deep frustration with the government. Zelie, a 26-year-old in Paris, told the BBC that the population is suffering greatly. Two masked teenagers in the crowd argued that their generation feels abandoned, attributing the looting to poverty and police violence rather than mere opportunism.

The unrest extended beyond France's borders. In Tirana, Albania, riot police fired tear gas at anti-government crowds. In Brussels, clashes were reported, while in Milan, hundreds of soldiers and police blocked gathering points to prevent a repeat of the previous week's violence. These events occurred with presidential elections in France six months away, a timeline that has already led leading contenders to criticize Macron's handling of the crisis.