France Rocked by Widespread Protests and Violence
Hundreds of thousands demonstrate against cost of living as cities see clashes and significant damage.
Sarah Connor
A clock tower spire collapsed in flames in Limoges, France, amidst widespread national unrest.
Violent incidents erupted across Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse, and Angers, with hooded individuals driving the chaos. Flames gutted the tourism office in Lyon, and a McDonald's in Lille was set ablaze.
Businesses and schools faced widespread vandalism and looting. An Apple store in Lille was broken into and looted, while designer stores like Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and Versace in Paris saw their glass frontages smashed.
Graffiti on shops screamed messages like "tax the rich" and "eat the rich." CCTV footage captured masked teenagers looting a mobile phone shop.
The blaze in Limoges began deliberately, collapsing the town hall's roof onto its lower floors. Police forces responded with tear gas, stun grenades, water cannons, and batons, meeting force with force.
Authorities arrested over 1,200 people nationwide. More than 150 police officers sustained injuries, caught in the escalating conflict.
One protester lost a hand attempting to pick up a stun grenade; another young man in Saint-Étienne had his hand blown off by a small explosive. The streets became a battlefield.
The internal police watchdog investigates at least two dozen cases of alleged police violence. An officer faces charges of aggravated violence after firing a bullet at a student on September 30 in Tours.
The UNSA police union declared police forces are at breaking point. "Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags. Pelted with stones, injured, trapped in real ambushes. Let everyone take responsibility: this cannot go on indefinitely. The rope is stretched to its maximum," the union stated.
French police admitted they were overwhelmed, lacking the manpower to control the widespread violence. The Yellow Vest movement, which began in 2018, saw renewed activity amidst the current unrest.
Student protests also spilled into Belgium and Albania. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte attended a Celine Dion concert in Paris on Friday night, even as the country braced for the weekend's demonstrations.
The CGT union estimated the number of protesters at 800,000.