Student protests are escalating in France. Not only school principals, but also police officers are increasingly being targeted. During a protest in Paris on Thursday, a female police officer was chased and attacked by a group of around ten young people, the television station BFM-TV and other French media report. The officer was knocked to the ground, kicked in the back and then punched.
According to the Paris police headquarters, the attack occurred when the policewoman stopped to pick up a dropped radio. Several attackers held her and shouted “Kill her!” called.
Police headquarters condemned the incident as an “unspeakable act.” Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nuñez wrote on X: “To attack a representative of law and order in this way is intolerable.” He assured the injured policewoman and the other 305 police officers and gendarmes who were injured during operations on Thursday of his full support.
Videos of the attack quickly spread on social networks. They show several young men running after the policewoman, tripping her and then hitting her. The “Rassemblement National” politician Marine Le Pen also shared recordings on X and spoke of “unbearable violence”. At the same time, she called for harsh punishments for the perpetrators.
In many places, school principals were also verbally or physically attacked, report the AFP news agency and the newspaper “Le Figaro”. Some suffered minor injuries, for example from fireworks being set off. In Marseille, a school principal and his deputy were sprayed with gasoline. Firefighters were attacked during an operation; a firefighter suffered a broken nose. A journalist from the M6 television station was also injured and his camera was destroyed.
"We do not tolerate this violence. Attacking school principals misses the core of the matter," said Christelle Kauffmann, deputy general secretary of the school principals' union SNPDEN-Unsa, to "Figaro". It was not the headmasters who decided on smaller classes, but politicians. "We currently don't know how to resolve the situation. We need support from the ministry," she said.
In Rouen, according to “Figaro”, the head of the high school Blaise Pascal was attacked and slightly injured. The headmaster of the Elisa Lemonnier high school in neighboring Petit-Quevilly was also injured. Normandy's education authority condemned the attacks as "unacceptable".
In Ingré near Orléans, the head of the high school Maurice Genevoix was attacked and slightly injured. According to “Figaro,” the public prosecutor’s office spoke of a “violent attack,” but did not provide any further details. According to the regional school authority, the principal suffered at least one blow. It is still unclear whether the attacker was a student at the school.
The head of a vocational school in Auchel, northern France, was also injured. According to the public prosecutor's office in Béthune, he was hit by a firecracker that ricocheted off his body and exploded a few meters away. The man was taken to hospital with shock but did not need to be on sick leave.
In Strasbourg and Marseille, the authorities temporarily suspended tram traffic. They also banned the transport of petrol cans and the sale of certain fireworks. In Paris, a police officer suffered cuts to his face in an attack, according to the mayor.
The protests that began a week ago are triggered by dilapidated school buildings, a shortage of teachers, a lack of teaching materials and long school days. Added to this are deeper social tensions, frustration with political decisions and widespread mistrust of state institutions, especially in socially disadvantaged suburbs. Students also joined the protests on Thursday. According to authorities, around 30 university locations were blocked.
The unrest quickly developed into a political dispute. Several politicians from the left-wing party La France insoumise (LFI) showed up at blocked schools. Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko defended his presence at riots as part of his official duties.
Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu had already accused LFI representatives of an “irresponsible escalation” at the beginning of the week. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal accused the party of exploiting young people for political purposes.
625 people were arrested on Wednesday and 83 police and gendarmes were injured. Since the protests began, the Ministry of Education says it has also recorded 119 injured students as well as teachers and supervisory staff. The police launched internal investigations into three cases in which students were injured during police operations. Interior Minister Nuñez emphasized that the use of means such as tear gas was “very proportionate”.
The situation is made even more explosive by the government's draft budget presented on Thursday. Among other things, this provides for new fees for certain educational qualifications and training paths. CGT union leader Sophie Binet spoke of a “provocation” and accused the government of fueling the protests with its austerity measures.
There were also violent student protests in the French-speaking part of Belgium. At least five schools were blocked in Liège and damage to property was also reported.
