1,300 Arrested in French Anti-Government Protests; No Repeat of Violence or Looting

[Financial News] Around 1,300 people were arrested during anti-government protests held in France on the 24th (local time). However, there were no violent protests like those on the 17th.
Local media, including AFP, reported, citing the French Interior Ministry, that around 110,000 people took part in protests restricted to areas outside the capital, Paris. Some 300,000 more took to the streets elsewhere across the country. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), one of France’s major labor unions and a key organizer of the protests, put nationwide participation at 800,000. The protesters took to the streets to demand price stability and the normalization of public education, among other things.
Most protests were peaceful, but sporadic clashes broke out between some protesters and police toward the end of demonstrations in major cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse. Around 1,300 people were arrested across France. Police deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who, dressed in black and with their faces covered, confronted officers. Some protesters also fired fireworks at police.
However, there were no violent protests or arson like those on the 17th. French authorities imposed restrictions on demonstrations and deployed around 70,000 security personnel, including police and counterterrorism special forces, as well as helicopters and armored vehicles.
With subway stations closed across central Paris, major museums, including the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, shut for the day, and Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais also had their football matches postponed. Shops ranging from luxury boutiques to grocery stores prepared for vandalism and looting by boarding up their windows and removing merchandise from their shelves.
On the 24th, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez claimed that far-left groups had “tried to start and end an uprising.” He said violence against police was once again high, but that the deployment of a large police force had allowed authorities to “prevent the looting of shops and damage to buildings like last week.” He stressed that “we will focus all our resources over the coming days and weeks to respond to the threat.”
On the 17th, large-scale violent protests erupted across France as high school students protesting poor educational conditions were joined by demonstrations against a lack of public-sector investment and high prices. French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said around 2,330 people had been taken into police custody over the weekend, 70% of them adults. French Trade Minister Serge Papin claimed at least 3,000 shops had been damaged, with losses potentially reaching hundreds of millions of euros. The Yellow Vests, a social movement that began in November 2018 to protest soaring prices and social inequality, held another demonstration on the 24th, saying they would launch “Act II.”
The French high school student group Le Nouveau Lycéen said it was prepared to continue protesting if the government did not announce concrete measures, ahead of its meeting with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on the 26th. Labor unions have also announced a general strike for the 5th of next month, and the CGT vowed to step up protests until the government and employers accept workers’ demands. The Yellow Vests announced another protest for the 31st, a sit-in they have dubbed “Act III.”
Meanwhile, anti-government protests also took place on the 24th in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Albania and elsewhere. Unrest broke out in Barcelona, Spain, and a total of 128 people were arrested on suspicion of damaging public property and looting, among other offenses.
Rallies of varying sizes were held in major Italian cities, including the capital, Rome, the country’s second-largest city, Milan, as well as Turin and Florence. At least nine people were arrested in the protests. In Brussels, the Belgian capital, around 400 protesters clashed sporadically with police, and nine people were arrested.


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