France’s nationwide protests over school funding and living costs drew competing crowd estimates on Oct. 24, as clashes in Paris brought renewed attention to the government’s security response.
The French Ministry of the Interior estimated that 410,000 people attended demonstrations nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris. The CGT union put the national figure at 800,000 and the Paris total at 250,000. The estimates diverged sharply.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were being mobilized for the protests. Le Monde reported that the deployment was 10,000 higher than the previous week. In an Oct. 23 notice, the ministry referred to looting, damage to public buildings and assaults on security forces during the Oct. 17 demonstrations. It told prefects to assess protest organizers and proposed routes, and to arrange checks at transport hubs and along travel routes.
At the end of the Paris route, the Associated Press reported, masked demonstrators threw fireworks and other objects; officers then used tear gas, sound grenades and water cannons. Nuñez said police had arrested nearly 1,000 people nationwide and that the provisional tally could grow as counting continued. He said authorities would not tolerate violence or disruption to public order, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. AFP also reported clashes in Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse.
The demonstrations began with high-school students seeking more education funding and teachers, then drew workers concerned about fuel and other everyday costs, the Associated Press reported. The rallies followed earlier online calls for protests covered by EconoTimes. The Associated Press also reported that the National Rally accused the government of failing to protect the public and urged voters to back Marine Le Pen.
AFP reported that Yellow Vest activists planned another round of rallies and a sit-in for Saturday, Oct. 31.
