Scuffles break out as protesters rally across France, joining students

PARIS (AP) — Scuffles broke out Saturday in Paris between police and small groups of protesters joining a march as part of nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs and in support of high school students’ grievances.

Police used tear gas to push back people wearing hoods and masks and throwing fireworks and other objects at officers in the Place de la République, northeast of the Paris city center. Large numbers of riot police were deployed in the square and surrounding streets.

Protesters across France responded to calls on social media to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Student groups protesting since mid-September through school blockades have urged supporters to join them.

The CGT, one of France’s major labor unions, also backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s office said authorities had recorded 140 protest actions outside the Paris region by midday, involving over 30,000 people. Authorities reported at least 166 arrests across the country.

Nuñez’s office pointed out to violence carried out by people wearing masks in Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers, including attempted looting, attacks on police officers, fires set to street furniture and the targeting of government institutions and media outlets.

In the southern port city of Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, while some protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of City Hall. Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan, speaking on BFM television, described “limited damage” in the lobby after protesters were dispersed by police.

President Emmanuel Macron appealed Friday for calm. “There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself,” he said in Brussels. “But this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.”

Police banned some other proposed gatherings in central Paris. Many metro stations were closed Saturday at police request, including those around the Champs-Elysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.

In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country’s presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.

Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.

On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.