High school student movement: 824 arrests in Ile-de-France since the start of the blockades

Since the start of the high school blockade movement, 824 people have been arrested in Ile-de-France, including 255 on Friday, the Paris police headquarters told AFP on Saturday October 3. Of this total, 85% are minors, "many high school students, but not necessarily from the high schools near which they commit abuses", according to the same source.

No less than "90% of those arrested are arrested in their department of residence", details the police headquarters, which emphasizes that 77 police officers have been injured since the start of the movement. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, denouncing "urban violence" near nearly 160 establishments, announced 1,747 arrests in France for Friday alone and more than 5,000 since Monday. An “act III” of the high school mobilization is looming for Tuesday October 6. Follow our live stream.

• “High school students obviously have the right to demonstrate” and “we in government have a duty to hear them,” assures David Amiel. “What worries me most is the violence”, adds on franceinfo the Minister of Action and Public Accounts, for whom the elected officials of La France insoumise “throw fuel on the fire evening and morning”, “fuel the violence” and “the anger”. David Amiel addresses his “solidarity” and his “support” to public officials, National Education staff and the police, “on the front line” in the face of violence.

• “The violence is committed by individuals who are embedded in this movement and who have nothing to do with it,” according to a representative of high school students. The Minister of National Education Edouard Geffray "did not immediately satisfy our demands", declared on RMC Louis Letoublond, vice-president of the organization Les Lycéens!, Saturday morning. He deplores the absence of "an emergency plan for school buildings that we requested", and "a concrete guarantee on human resources" such as "more teachers to ensure replacements". The "substantive work" announced by the minister, for example on high school democracy, may be a way of "drowning the fish", evokes Louis Letoublond, according to whom "the scenes of violence that we have seen in recent days are not the work of the high school movement".