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Largely peaceful France protests over living costs and school conditions turned violent in Paris and other cities as night fell Saturday, with police arresting nearly 1,000 people despite a security operation of 70,000 officers, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at around 500 hooded youths at the end of the main Paris march, a week after rioting and looting swept the country.
The Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 410,000, while the CGT union estimated nearly 800,000, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
The ministry counted 289 protests nationwide.
Nunez said the arrest figure was expected to rise significantly as more were counted. Two people were seriously injured, one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand, he said, without giving details.
At least 110,000 people joined the main Paris march, according to the police prefecture, while the CGT put the figure at 250,000. Authorities confined the march to the capital’s southeastern edge under a last-minute order.
The march passed off largely peacefully, but clashes broke out as the crowd dispersed. Masked protesters hurled objects and fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas, sound grenades and water cannons.
Nunez blamed "500 rioters" at the back of the march.
Paris police carried out more than 3,000 checks and arrested 65 people.
"They were just taking people down, you know, beating protesters," a demonstrator bleeding from a baton blow to his face, who gave his first name as David, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In Marseille, youths set fire to rubbish bins and hurled rocks and bottles at security forces, Reuters reported. Police said several stores, including two jewelry shops, were ransacked. The CGT said 100,000 marched in the city, while the prefecture said 17,000.
Clashes also erupted in Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Rennes, Nantes and Toulouse. In Lyon, the prefecture reported 36 arrests and 22 injured, including 18 members of the security forces.
In Grenoble, about 400 masked people in black bloc clothing attacked police with mortars and projectiles, the Isere prefecture said. Looting was reported in Nantes, Marseille and Grenoble.
Curfews for unaccompanied minors were extended in parts of Lille and other northern towns until Monday morning.
Nunez said far-right activists sought confrontations with leftist groups in southern cities, opening a potential new front.
Authorities called it an unprecedented development.
In Nice, 11 people described by authorities as far-right individuals were arrested after an attack on demonstrators that injured three, the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture said.
"In almost every march we saw the formation of these high-risk groups. They broke away from the main body and sought to commit acts of violence," Nunez said, blaming far-left activists and criminal gangs.
He said police faced “an extremely elevated level of violence" from "ultra-left" extremists but said the violence was less intense than a week earlier. "What changed was anticipation," Nunez said.
Authorities deployed 10,000 more officers than the previous weekend after conceding they had underestimated the Oct. 17 unrest. Last week’s rioting led to 2,700 arrests.
Much of central Paris resembled a city under lockdown, with storefronts boarded up and more than 20 metro stations shut. The Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay and the Paris Opera closed for the day.
"There are hardly any customers, so it’s not really worth staying open," said Oskar, manager of a Kiton boutique.
"Everything’s boarded up and we’re not quite sure where we should be," said Xavier Dolliole, a tourist from New Orleans.
Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor boarding up an optician’s shop, said: "I got the call last night. The owner seemed desperate. He said I was saving his life."
Art Basel canceled its weekend program after opening to the public for one day on Friday.
Macron had ordered non-union demonstrations banned as "illegitimate." Authorities banned rallies in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, and unions called the bans violations of freedom of expression.
"We shed tears for shops, not for the people who are being impoverished all year round," said Clara Lebbadi, a 22-year-old arts student. "My friend and I almost didn’t come because we were scared, but we came precisely because it’s important not to let repression win."
"If they ban protests, that means we’re heading more and more towards a regime that is fascist, that is dictatorial," said Silem, a 20-year-old protester in Lyon.
"Neither the president, nor the weather will stop me from demonstrating," said Delphine, 47, in Lille.
Nurse Soumaya Abed, 58, said marching on the outskirts "won’t stop the movement. It won’t stop students from demanding better conditions in schools."
"The young people who have been demonstrating have not been heard, and as a parent and as a teacher, I stand with them," said Benedicte Pittion, 46, who marched with her 16-year-old daughter.
Camille Chesnier, 27, said she has not found work despite two engineering degrees. "There are enormous numbers of people in the same situation as me but who aren’t privileged and who find themselves living on the streets and in squats and, frankly, it’s very tough," she said.
"Looking at countries like the United States, we don’t want to end up like them, where part of the population has everything and the others have nothing," said Louis Ledoux-Xatard. "I never imagined that I’d be taking to the streets so much before my thirties."
The unrest began last month as a protest over staff shortages at a high school southeast of Paris and spread into a broader movement over education funding and rising costs.
Student groups want 250,000 more university places, an end to the Parcoursup admissions system and an extra 200 euros a month in grants. Energy prices in September were 21.3 percent higher than a year earlier, pushing inflation to 3.1 percent, according to INSEE.
Macron met high school representatives Friday. They said he promised to overhaul university admissions but called for protests to continue until concrete measures are announced.
Similar protests took place in Belgium, Italy and Albania.
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