Pensions: clashes recorded in Paris and a number of cities on the fields of processions

With 13,000 policemen and gendarmes mobilized, the Ministry of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, wanted to avoid violence at all costs on this tenth day of mobilization against pension reform. This did not prevent clashes with the police and destruction in several French cities, including Paris, where the police headquarters counted 93,000 demonstrators against 450,000 for the CGT.

Clashes broke out in the capital against the police and some activists, dressed in black and wearing masks, towards the end of the route in the Place de la Nation. These groups of masked demonstrators ransacked the Leclerc business, lit fires in dumpsters, and damaged street furniture.

Police loaded and fired tear gas grenades to “displace” the block, allow “firemen to intervene” and “facilitate the progress of the procession,” the Paris police headquarters said. After 20:00, 55 people were arrested in Paris, and 10,000 checks were made around the demonstration.

At least three victims were treated by “street medics” (volunteer rescuers), several AFP colleagues said. One was conscious of a head injury, the other, who wore a press bandage, had a superficial leg injury.

49 arrests in Nantes

In the west of France, where clashes were particularly violent on Thursday, violence and humiliation were again recorded in Nantes and Rennes, despite the two parades generally being considered quieter. In the Loire-Atlantique prefecture, a bank branch and a car were set on fire, and the administrative court was attacked. At least one protester was injured during a demonstration in Nantes, according to AFP. The prefecture announced 49 arrests against 6 in Rennes.

Further south, in Toulouse, the event was also marred by incidents. Police fired water cannons at about fifty demonstrators dressed in black, wearing masks and goggles. The same scenario in Lyon, where shops were vandalized.

In Lille, there were also incidents at the end of the course between the police and some demonstrators. The former used two water cannons and used tear gas before attacking to disperse Lille demonstrators after the arrival of the procession. In response, some demonstrators fired bottles at the police, who made at least one arrest. The demonstration has so far been largely peaceful.

Jets of projectiles, use of tear gas by the police, damage were also recorded in Bordeaux, Calais, Dijon or Caen. In Strasbourg, several hundred young demonstrators played cat and mouse with the police, especially in the student district of Krutenau. Bank windows were smashed, as were at least a dozen bus stops.

In Besançon, about 150 demonstrators clashed with the police. The prefecture paid “homage to the union officials who intervened to prevent” the demonstrators from setting the prefecture’s door on fire.