France Detains 980 After Evening Protests

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that nearly 1,000 people were arrested in France on Saturday evening. He stated the number would likely increase as reports from various cities continued to arrive. Two individuals were seriously injured during the demonstrations, with one victim in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand.

The Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people participated in the nationwide protests. Unions, however, calculated the turnout to be approximately 800,000. The government deployed roughly 70,000 police officers to manage the events. Authorities imposed specific restrictions in several cities to prevent a recurrence of the severe disorder seen the previous week.

Violence broke out in Paris after a march from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes. Police utilized an elite unit typically assigned to counter-terrorism and organized crime operations. Protesters constructed makeshift barriers and threw objects at officers. Police responded by charging with batons at masked groups smashing windows at a car dealership. Nuñez told AFP that about 500 individuals identified as rioters gathered at the rear of the march.

In Marseille, protesters set fire to barricades and used metal sheets to block streets. In Bordeaux, individuals tore boards from a shop. Police in Lyon fired tear gas to disperse a crowd in an area declared off-limits by the local prefecture. One student protester in Lyon reported a group of 150 people, noting that visibility in the street was poor due to the smoke.

President Emmanuel Macron issued a decree earlier in the week limiting legal demonstrations to those organized by recognized trade unions. This move followed a series of fast-track court hearings where hundreds of people were jailed for vandalism and arson. The new rules aim to control the scale and organization of future public gatherings.

Protesters expressed deep frustration over cost of living and school conditions. A 26-year-old woman named Zelie in Paris said people were suffering greatly. Two masked teenagers described their generation as abandoned by the government. One teenager acknowledged that looting was not ideal but blamed poverty and police violence, stating that protests would continue until demands were met. In Orléans, 13,000 people rallied peacefully against the National Rally party.

Unrest spread to other European cities as well. Riot police fired tear gas at demonstrators in Tirana, Albania. Clashes were reported in Brussels. In Milan, hundreds of soldiers and police prevented protesters from gathering to avoid a repeat of the previous week's violence. The current unrest follows a week of major demonstrations against fuel prices, which resulted in more than 2,500 arrests and significant business damage.