The interior minister said the day went well. Youth unions counted nearly half a million demonstrators.
PARIS – About 320,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday, including 70,000 in Paris, in the third straight weekend of protests over living costs and education, the interior ministry said. Youth unions put the number at nearly half a million.
The turnout was down from 410,000 the previous Saturday and more than 500,000 on Oct. 17, when protests degenerated into some of the worst rioting in years. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed. The protests were largely peaceful, even festive in Paris, where the main march was moved outside the city center after a last-minute court fight, but police fired tear gas and clashed with demonstrators in several cities, including Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Paris, where some protesters threw mortar-style fireworks.
More than 560 people were arrested across the country by Saturday night, NBC News reported, citing the interior ministry. That is fewer than at the same point last week, when arrests were about 800. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the protests went well despite the clashes. His office had said it prepared for violence on a scale comparable to two weeks earlier, and he said authorities had spotted social media calls for Halloween gatherings urging protesters to spark a “revolution.”
The protests began with students over school conditions and have broadened to cost of living and inequality. The “yellow vest” movement, unions and high school and university students organized Saturday’s demonstrations. A government package on student grievances announced Monday was called insufficient by unions. The protests have spread across Europe, including a violent night in Germany. Aurax News has a separate report.
This report draws on information from France 24, NPR, CBS News and NBC News.