Violent clashes, fires and looting marred demonstrations across France on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of people marched against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. About 400 people were arrested nationwide, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
Nuñez said 110 marches drew about 550,000 people across the country. Organizers, including the CGT labor union and students’ organizations, said about 800,000 demonstrators took to the streets.
Nuñez described troublemakers as “extremely violent, radical far-left groups” whom, he said, sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and local government offices. He said those groups have been joined by offenders willing to loot shops. Most of those arrested are adults, he said.
Some incidents were still ongoing in central Paris on Saturday evening.
“There is no place for violence in our Republic,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a message on X. “Those who vandalized property, attacked government
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