PARIS — Cars were set on fire and shops were looted in Paris on Saturday as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent protesters who joined nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs and in support of high school students’ grievances.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s office reported “a growing number of violent incidents” across the country, including assaults on officers, looting and damage to public buildings. Police made at least 272 arrests across the country, including in Paris.
Protesters across France responded to calls on social media to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Demonstrators expressed widespread frustration and anger at the government as gasoline, energy and food prices have spiked in recent months.
Police fired tear gas and water cannons to push back people wearing hoods and masks and throwing fireworks, paving stones and other objects at officers in the Place de la République, northeast of the Paris city center.
Associated Press reporters saw thick black smoke rising from cars, bicycles and other vehicles, and trash bins on fire. A kiosk was also burning, while several shops have been looted. Several people have been injured in the clashes.
Meanwhile, the majority of peaceful protesters joined a march that moved toward northwestern Paris. The crowd chanted France’s national anthem and waved flags, and some people played trumpets and violins.
In Lyon, France’s third-largest city where about 20,000 protesters joined the march, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.
Sonia Mabrouk, 40, said she came from a suburb west of Paris with her daughter, a high school student, to protest “everything that’s going wrong,” particularly the neglect of public services. Mabrouk, who took part in the yellow vest protests, criticized “policies that favor the rich and always hit the poorest people in their wallets.”
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.
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.
Corbet and Deley write for the Associated Press.
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