108 French police injured – 291 protesters arrested
May Day demonstrations in France have degenerated into violence, several French media reports. Among other things, a police officer was hit by a Molotov cocktail in Paris when black-clad protesters clashed with riot police.
According to AFP, 108 police officers have been injured and 291 protesters have been arrested.
The demonstrations are not only about the heavily criticized increase in the retirement age. The climate organization Extinction Rebellion is said to have color-bombed Louis Vuitton's flagship store in Paris. Le Monde also writes that the infamous police unit Brav-M and the security force CRS have been called in to disperse a group of demonstrators from the Yellow Vests, who are against the high petrol prices.
One of the protesters is 68-year-old Marilyne, who says the violence will continue until 2027, when President Macron's term ends.
- We have to keep destroying things and wait until 2027, she tells Le Monde.
Protesters in Paris. Thibault Camus / AP
The union: Over two million French demonstrate
The French trade union CGT states that 2.3 million people have taken to the streets to demonstrate and join May Day marches, reports Le Monde. The French Interior Ministry estimates that far fewer have taken part, around 782,000.
The newspaper estimates that this year's May Day demonstrations are seven to ten times larger than last year.
It is mainly the criticized pension reform, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, that the French have shown their dissatisfaction with.
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