France protests: 1,200 arrests reported amid unrest, while most marches pass peacefully

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said 1,200 people had been arrested and 150 police officers and gendarmes injured as nationwide protests over living costs and school conditions were accompanied by violence on Saturday 17 October. Both figures were provisional. Earlier in the evening, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had reported about 400 arrests and 60 injured members of the security forces; those were earlier tallies, not additional cases. [2] [4]

Nuñez estimated that 550,000 people joined demonstrations across France, including 110,000 in Paris. Organisers put national turnout at 800,000. Reuters reported that the marches themselves generally passed without incident, including in Paris, even as serious unrest broke out around them. The arrest total does not show how many marchers were involved in violence. [3] [4]

At Place de la République in Paris, Associated Press reporters saw vehicles and bins burning and shops being looted. Police used tear gas and water cannon against masked people throwing fireworks and other objects, while a largely peaceful procession moved on through the capital. The BBC also reported seeing officers strike several people with batons. [5] [1]

Elsewhere, a tourist office on Lyon’s Place Bellecour was ransacked and set alight, according to local publication Lyon Capitale. In Limoges, the town hall caught fire; the local prefect said its roof had collapsed on to the floors below in much of the building. The prefecture in the Bordeaux area separately reported 23 people injured, including 15 members of the security forces and eight demonstrators. [6] [3]

A 17-year-old lost a hand in Saint-Étienne. Prosecutors assigned the police inspectorate an investigation into the cause of his injuries. Nuñez said he had heard it might have been a gendarmerie grenade but could not confirm that account. [2]

Nuñez blamed radical far-left groups for fuelling violence, while left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused the authorities of provoking clashes and condemned the looting and arson. Their competing claims do not establish who was responsible for individual incidents. The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon have asked to meet Lecornu and called for an assessment of how the violence unfolded. [4] [1] [3]