Student in Paris: Demonstrating against everything

 

Malin Carlsson/TT, Beatrice Nordensson/TT

 

Published 11:40 | Updated 13:27

        

       18-year-old Léa Joussein at Porte d’Italie in southern Paris on Saturday. Photo: Malin Carlsson/TT

France is holding its breath as large-scale protests planned for Saturday get underway. By mid-morning, police had already fired tear gas at a smaller demonstration in the city of Lyon.

“I’m here to demonstrate against everything,” says 18-year-old Léa Joussein in Paris.

Shortly before 11:00 a.m., police dispersed a group of about 150 people in Lyon. According to an AFP journalist on the scene, police used tear gas. The group had gathered in an area of ​​the city near the university—a zone where local authorities had banned demonstrations for the weekend, reports *Le Figaro*.

In the capital, Paris, a major demonstration—organized by student unions and the Yellow Vests—is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. At Porte d’Italie in southern Paris, more and more people are gathering; some can be heard chanting, “Macron, resign!”

Among the crowd is 18-year-old Léa Joussein, who, like many of the protesters, is driven by dissatisfaction with the education system.

“I attended a high school where the ceiling fell on students, and where it was only seven degrees Celsius in the classrooms during the winter—we had to wear down jackets. It was awful,” she tells TT.

3,000 police officers

Protests are also taking place in Orléans, south of Paris. According to *Le Figaro*, the event is a protest against a congress being held in the city by the far-right party National Rally (*Rassemblement National*). The organizers—a coalition of political parties, trade unions, and various associations—have called for a demonstration against "racism, fascism, and imperialism."

"Macron, resign! Le Pen to prison!" the protesters chant, according to AFP.

French media report that approximately 3,000 police officers and gendarmes have been deployed in the city, equipped with assets including armored vehicles and water cannons.

"Having to improvise"

Business owners in Paris, Bordeaux, and Rennes have boarded up their storefronts to prevent a repeat of the damage and looting that occurred last weekend.

"It feels like we’re having to improvise. We’ve secured what we can, and we’ll likely close at 1:00 PM," Armelle Gueganton, who owns a bookstore in Paris’s 12th arrondissement, told AFP.

It has been one week since demonstrations in various locations across France descended into riots, vandalism, and looting.

On Friday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that 70,000 security personnel would be deployed nationwide—equipped with gear including armored vehicles and water cannons. Certain areas of the French capital, Paris, are closed off today, Saturday. Several museums, including the Louvre, are also shut.