France Rioters Clash With Police, Torch Lyon Tourism Office, Break Into Marseille City Hall
A car and a newspaper kiosk were set on fire in Paris as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent groups of protesters, while similar tensions erupted Saturday in other big cities on the fringes of nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs and in support of high school students’ grievances.
The riots saw historic buildings burnt to a crisp by arsonist rioters, including the Limoges City Hall. The building, inaugurated in 1883, saw its famous tower collapse in a conflagration on Saturday as fire ravaged its mostly wooden frame. According to the prefect of Haute-Vienne, the building was “largely lost”.
Several thousand people had taken part in a local demonstration on Saturday, which ultimately devolved into violent scenes, including the burning of a municipal police car in front of the town hall. Le Figaro reported that “hooded individuals” were seen approaching the building, smashing the windows, and setting it on fire.
Meanwhile, the official residence of the Prefect of Gironde in Bordeaux was also “ransacked” by rioters, forcing specialist police units to be deployed to recapture the building.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s office described “a growing number of violent incidents,” including assaults on police officers, looting or attempted looting of shops and damage to public buildings. Authorities reported at least 272 arrests across the country, including in Paris.
In the French capital, police used tear gas and water cannons to push back people wearing hoods and masks and throwing fireworks and other objects at officers in the Place de la République, northeast of the Paris city center. Large numbers of riot police were deployed in the square and surrounding streets.
Meanwhile, police were working to prevent other small groups of protesters from converging on government buildings, Nuñez’s office said.
Many metro stations were closed Saturday at police request, including those around the Champs-Elysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.
In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, where about 20,000 protesters joined the march, fire broke out inside a tourist office. Smoke and flames were seen rising from the building.
In the southern port city of Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, while some protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of City Hall.
“This is unacceptable,” Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan told BFM TV, describing the damage in City Hall as “limited.”
Nuñez’s office also reported violence by masked groups in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier and Grenoble, among other cities.
Protesters across France responded to calls on social media to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Demonstrators expressed widespread frustration and anger at the government as gasoline, energy and food prices have spiked in recent months.
Student groups protesting since mid-September through school blockades have urged supporters to join them.
The CGT, one of France’s major labor unions, also backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.”
In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country’s presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.
Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.
On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
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