France protests end with nearly 1,000 arrests as minister cites 'extremely elevated' violence
France's interior minister said nearly 1,000 people were arrested during Saturday's nationwide cost-of-living protests, with two people seriously injured, after largely peaceful marches gave way to clashes in Paris and other cities.
French police arrested nearly 1,000 people during Saturday’s nationwide protests over the cost of living and school funding, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Saturday night, describing an “extremely elevated level of violence” from black-clad “ultra-left” extremists after marches that had largely passed off peacefully (Agence France-Presse).
Nuñez said the arrest total was expected to rise. Two people were seriously injured, he said: a 20-year-old man in Toulouse who reportedly had fingers blown off, and another person in Clermont-Ferrand, with no details given.
In Paris, where the main demonstration had passed off largely peacefully, clashes broke out as the crowd dispersed and lasted around two hours, Nuñez said. He said several thousand radical activists had gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 people identified as rioters. Police used tear gas and water cannon in the capital and other cities.
The interior ministry put Saturday’s turnout at about 410,000 nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris, while organisers put the figures far higher, at 800,000 across France and 250,000 in Paris, according to The Times. Some 70,000 police and gendarmes had been deployed, and police seized weapons including metal balls, fireworks, slingshots, a katana sword and airsoft guns before the marches began.
Saturday’s toll was below last weekend’s, when about 2,700 people were arrested and around 3,000 shops were looted or damaged, but Nuñez said the scale of Saturday’s violence was still far above the 385 arrests recorded at the same stage a week earlier.
Sources
- Agence France-Presse, via Jamaica Observer: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2026/10/24/clashes-break-paris-french-cities-amid-fresh-protests/
- The Times: https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/france-protests-paris-riots-news-latest-x0lw7zddh
- New Indian Express: https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2026/Oct/24/nearly-1000-arrested-in-french-protests-marred-by-elevated-violence-minister
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