France Riots Escalate as Protesters Clash With Police
Protesters in France clash with police, set fires and burn flags amid ongoing unrest.
2 min read
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Paris on Saturday, clashing with police and setting fires as tensions escalated. The unrest, which has continued for several weeks, saw rioters in the French capital launch Molotov cocktails at officers while others in Lyon burned American and Israeli flags.
Plusieurs dizaines de milliers de personnes manifestent à Paris entre la porte de Bagnolet et porte de Charenton.
According to a report from French newspaper Le Monde, approximately 320,000 protesters gathered on the outskirts of Paris for a march that began relatively peacefully. Some of the participants wore Halloween costumes, and police were deployed in large numbers to ensure order.
Des affrontements éclatent porte de Charenton à Paris.
As the march reached its end, police ordered the protesters to disperse. Instead, the demonstrators responded with violence, hurling projectiles at officers. Some protesters, dressed in all black and wearing masks, used hammers to pry paving stones from the road and threw them at police, while others threw Molotov cocktails. Several officers were reportedly injured during the clashes.
Plusieurs cocktails molotov jetés contre les forces de l’ordre à Paris.
Video footage showed a violent clash at Port de Charenton in Paris, where a Molotov cocktail exploded among police officers, forcing them to scramble to put out the fires. Protesters also set vehicles ablaze on the streets of Paris.
Un véhicule incendié à Paris.
Police continued to work into the evening to disperse the protests. In Lyon, protesters burned American and Israeli flags in addition to hurling projectiles at police, according to The New York Post.
Les forces de l’ordre dispersent les manifestants toujours rassemblés dans les rues de Paris.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had issued a warning ahead of Saturday’s demonstrations, prompting cities to keep protesters away from city centers and impose curfews. Authorities said they were able to prevent looting in several major cities, including Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, and Lyon. Security forces in Toulouse used water cannons to control the rioters.
Nuñez warned protesters that they would face strict measures, including the prohibition of masks, and assured that the officer whose clothing caught fire from a Molotov cocktail had suffered only minor injuries and was expected to recover.
Source: Daily Wire
