Blockades are underway in various parts of the country: a fire truck set on fire in Marseille, a school in Nantes on fire, the campus of the University of Saint-Denis occupied and clashes between police and students in Lille. The demonstrations began a week ago and resulted in the injuries of hundreds of people, including students and officers. Prime Minister Lecornu calls a crisis summit in Paris: the government (as well as Le Pen and Bardella) accuses La France Insoumise which replies: "Don't fall into conspiracy theory"
Alarm is growing in several French cities over a series of violence, injuries and throwing of pyrotechnic material against school principals during high school lockdowns. The incidents, reported by school offices and trade union representatives, fuel the strong concern of school heads, who ask the Ministry of Education for help and invite schools to close when safety cannot be guaranteed. The French authorities, meanwhile, have downplayed the episode at the Victor Hugo high school in Marseille, ruling out the hypothesis of an attempted assassination aimed at the school management who was accidentally involved. Meanwhile, the government has decided to cancel ministers' travel until Monday due to the violent student protests underway in the country.
“Act Two”
The student protests, which began about a week ago, involved over 350 schools in the country in just a few days. The Union syndicale lycéenne (USL) has launched an appeal to stage an ''act two'' of the mobilization today, 1 October, and for another day of action on Tuesday 6 October. The students, supported by the three main student organizations (Fage, Union étudiante and Unef) who are inciting new demonstrations and blockades, are protesting to demand the replacement of absent teachers, an increase in resources, the renovation of schools and ''decent'' learning conditions.
Arrests and injuries
From the first days, the demonstrations were marked by clashes and violence. According to the Ministry of the Interior, yesterday alone, 625 arrests were made. Since the blockades began, at least 119 students and staff have been injured while 83 officers have been injured. The Police Inspectorate was tasked with carrying out three investigations following the injuries of some students during protests in Sevran (Seine-Saint-Denis), Saint-Ouen-L'Aumône (Val-d'Oise) and Tours. The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, for his part, said that the police intervened "with great proportionality".
Violence in various cities
The protests have spread to various cities in every part of France. In Marseille, a fire truck was surrounded and then set on fire by students rioting in front of the Lycée Saint-Exupéry. Clashes also occurred in Pantin, on the outskirts of Paris, and in Nantes where, as reported by the French media, the Nelson Mandela high school was hit by fire. The mobilization, started by schools, is also extending to universities, such as the Saint-Denis campus of Université Paris VIII, which has been blocked since this morning. Public transport was interrupted and the police arrived on the scene, also using tear gas to disperse the crowd. Day of violence also in Lille (THE VIDEO), where French riot police clashed with protesting students. A principal in Pas-de-Calais, northern France, was injured by a firework mortar rocket. The local authority has announced that it intends to file a complaint. The principal, who heads the Degrugillier high school in Auchel, near the town of Béthune, was taken to hospital by ambulance and hospitalized. Flames also burned outside a school in Rouen, the historic capital of Normandy, France, where two principals were injured. The violence has finally reached the capital: the mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire announced that a municipal police vehicle was targeted this morning "on the sidelines of a student mobilization" in the 16th arrondissement and that an officer was injured.
Public transport suspended
In Marseille, the circulation of buses, trams and subways was interrupted due to "acts of vandalism and attacks on drivers" which occurred on the network this morning, on the sidelines of the student protests: this was announced by RTM (Régie des transports métropolitains), the consortium that manages public transport in France's second city. "The service will resume as soon as conditions allow, in coordination with the police", specifies RTM, adding that the Aubagne tram service has also been suspended. Tram circulation was also suspended in the city of Strasbourg, at the request of the French state, "in order to limit the movements of troublemakers and demonstrators". The prefect also banned, until Friday, the possession, transportation and use of fireworks, as well as the transportation of fuel in jerrycans, according to a statement from the prefecture.
Minister of Education: "No claim can justify such acts"
The Minister of Education, Edouard Geffray, denounced "extremely serious" violence and asked that in the event of the occupation of institutions or serious damage to buildings, lessons be held remotely in order to be able to continue with the programs safely. "A high school set on fire, staff doused in petrol, a worsening number of injured: the violence committed this morning near high schools is extremely serious. It goes far beyond the sole issue of the school. No claim can justify such acts", wrote the French Minister of Education in a long message published on Then the warning to the troublemakers: "Those who commit this violence must be prosecuted and sanctioned. Everyone must understand the responsibility for their words and their calls for mobilization", adding: "Our responsibility is clear: to protect students and staff and guarantee the continuity of teaching activities. I have therefore ordered that lessons take place remotely if damage or blockages prevent us from welcoming students in safe conditions. These decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis by the school managers, in consultation with the school authorities. The prefects will be informed in advance to coordinate the safety of the surrounding areas. Violence will not deprive our students of their fundamental right to education."
Le Pen accuses La France Insoumise
And the student protests have also moved to a political level after the accusations, made primarily by Marine Le Pen, of the involvement of France Insoumise in organizing the riots. "By personally going to high schools to harangue young people, inciting his militants to insurrection and sending his deputies to schools, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (leader of France Insoumise, ed.) assumes a serious responsibility for the situation that our country is experiencing today", commented the leader of the Rassemblement National. This is echoed by the president of the same right-wing party, Jordan Bardella, who proposed that "the bill for damages, in millions of euros" be divided "between the families of the arsonists and the party that incites chaos: France Insoumise".
The government also accuses France Insoumise
As already hypothesized by Le Pen and Bardella, the French intelligence services also believe that the movement to block high schools is a "maneuver organized by La France Insoumise and its representatives of the far left". This was reported by sources at Palazzo Matignon at the end of the meeting of the inter-ministerial crisis unit convened by Prime Minister Lecornu. But the leaders of the left-wing party reject the accusations: the coordinator of France Insoumise, Manuel Bompard, in turn accused the government of "falling into conspiracy and the infantilisation of high school students", adding that "this spontaneous movement was born out of exasperation in the face of absolutely unworthy school conditions".
