France: Protest Saturday - 515 fires, 779 arrests, 116 injured emergency services

779 people were arrested on the nationwide day of protests in France and on Halloween night. 116 security forces were injured in riots, as the French Interior Ministry announced in its report the following day.

It said 515 fires were fought and 36 shops were damaged. There were three lootings. Partial bans on demonstrations by the prefectures were almost universally confirmed by the administrative courts.

The demonstrations on the approved routes outside city centers took place under the accompaniment of security forces, the ministry said. At the end of the trains, groups of rioters tried to advance into the city centers and attacked security forces with great violence, it said. The Interior Ministry partly blamed groups from the left-wing extremist spectrum.

The authorities noted a decline in mobilization. With 320,000 participants, there were 22 percent fewer demonstrators nationwide than last Saturday and 42 percent fewer than on October 17th. Two weeks ago there were serious riots, looting and devastation.

French school and student organizations, trade unions and the yellow vest movement announced new actions on several days next week. There will be a blockade of universities and high schools on Tuesday. Some students, for whom school is starting again after a two-week fall break, want to block on Monday. A general strike called by unions will follow on Thursday. The yellow vest movement wants to continue this on Friday and demonstrate again across the country on Saturday. It would be the fourth weekend of protests in France in a row.

The situation also escalated in Germany on Saturday evening. The largely peaceful “Gen Z” demonstrations were followed by riots and dozens of police officers were injured. The Interior Minister claims to have already found his perpetrator profile. Other politicians recall the core of the protests.