French police arrest 135 and seize weapons during protest day

French police arrested 135 people and seized weapons during a nationwide protest day on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, as authorities stepped up security after riots and looting the previous week. Nuñez said there had been no “major incident” so far.

Among the items seized were fireworks, catapults, improvised weapons, a katana sword and airsoft guns, according to a report by ANP/AFP carried by Nieuws.nl. Most arrests were made during police checks.

Nuñez said 35,000 people had been counted on the streets. At the same point in the day a week earlier, he said, the figure was 60,000. Police numbers had been increased in response to the previous demonstrations, which ended in unrest in several parts of the country.

Saturday’s protests also included action against the far-right National Rally (RN), which was holding a party congress in Orléans. The previous week’s demonstrations had included protests over rising living costs and education, alongside disorder in several cities.