New yellow vest movement?: France-wide protests: first clashes with police

Paris. The first clashes between demonstrators and the police broke out on a day of protests across France against the high cost of living. In Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg, the police used tear gas and batons against protesters, as the Interior Ministry in Paris announced. In Marseille, demonstrators tried to break into a police station and looted shops. According to the Paris police prefecture, around 100 people were arrested because they were carrying weapons and other prohibited items. President Emmanuel Macron had warned people the evening before to protest peacefully.

The Interior Ministry recorded 140 protests across the country with 32,800 participants at midday. So far, 166 people have been arrested across the country. Demonstrations were planned in Paris and many other cities in the early afternoon. Up to 170,000 protesters were expected across France, with between 30,000 and 60,000 in Paris alone.

According to the Interior Ministry, there is a very strong mobilization of the ultra-left scene during the protests, which is solely intent on causing unrest. There are targeted, violent attacks by masked people who form black blocs, particularly in Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers.

The ministry reported attempts at looting, attacks on law enforcement officers, arson in public spaces and targeted attacks on authorities and the media. Around 100 masked people blocked access to the right-wing TV channel CNews in Paris, media reported. The building also houses the radio station Europe1.

Pupils and students who have been demonstrating for better learning conditions and better equipment in schools also wanted to join the day of protest, which had been announced for a long time. The call for protest, which cannot be clearly assigned to any organization and was spread via social media, is also about high fuel prices, low wages, the large number of low-paid workers and problems in agriculture and the fire department.

There was also a call for a new edition of the yellow vest movement. The government's concern is that Saturday's demonstrations will actually become a spark for such broader protests. The yellow vest protest kept France in suspense for a long time in 2019 and spread like a wildfire out of nowhere. The trigger at the time was a planned increase in taxes on fuel. This quickly gave rise to a broader movement against the high cost of living and social injustice, which hampered Macron during his first term in office.