Over 1,300 arrested in France – police officers injured
A protester throws an object at police during Saturday’s protests in Paris. Photo: Thibault Camus/AP/ TT
More than 1,300 people were arrested and around 50 police officers were injured during Saturday’s protests in France. On the whole, however, things remained significantly calmer than feared.
A protest sign lies soaked on the roadside in central Paris. “Pay the wage earners who keep society running,” it reads, written in black marker.
A short distance away, someone has attempted to smash a window.
“Well, sure, things were a bit rowdy yesterday, but nothing actually got broken. They tried with the window, but that was it,” says a man encountered by a TT reporter.
Very little remains to suggest the clashes that took place on Saturday between protesters and security forces. Across France, just over 1,300 people were arrested and 53 members of the security forces were injured, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Sunday.
By 10:00 p.m. on Saturday evening, the number of arrests had already reached nearly 1,000. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez placed the blame for the violence on “extremists dressed in black,” reports the news agency AFP.
Police responded with tear gas, water cannons, and stun grenades. Two protesters were seriously injured—one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand.
“The police started moving toward everyone, telling them to get down and back away.” "They were just knocking people down," the demonstrator, David—who was bleeding following an alleged blow from a baton—told AFP.
According to the trade union confederation CGT, around 800,000 people demonstrated across the country on Saturday. The Ministry of the Interior, however, put the figure at just over 400,000.
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