France Deploys 70,000 Officers for School Marches

French authorities deployed more than 70,000 police officers on Saturday to manage a nationwide wave of protests centered on the education system.

The government calculated that at least 400,000 people participated in marches across the country. Trade unions challenged that count, asserting the actual number reached 800,000. In Paris alone, officials estimated 110,000 demonstrators moved along the eastern edge of the capital. This massive mobilization forced the closure of many museums and saw numerous shops board up their windows in advance.

The demonstrations marked a sharp contrast to the previous weekend, which saw one of France’s most violent days of unrest in recent years. That earlier event resulted in at least 2,700 arrests, with public buildings burned and hundreds of stores looted. This week’s marches remained largely peaceful in their core, featuring brass bands and families. Tensions erupted primarily at the periphery. At Porte de Vincennes in Paris, masked individuals threw glass bottles and stones at police. Officers responded with teargas, water cannon, and stun grenades. Similar clashes involving bin fires occurred in Marseille, while teargas was used to keep crowds out of city centers in Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Toulouse.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced 135 arrests nationwide. His office listed confiscated items including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, improvised weapons, a katana, and airsoft guns. The protests originated in mid-September when high school students aged 15 to 18 began striking over staff shortages and crumbling infrastructure. The movement has since expanded to include teachers, parents, and trade unions. Police investigations are currently underway after some children and protesters were injured by explosive police weaponry.

Protesters criticized President Emmanuel Macron’s administration for banning non-union demonstrations and restricting access to city centers. A 43-year-old communications worker named Nadège, who was teargassed the prior weekend, stated that she returned to defend the legal right to protest in the street. A 21-year-old science student described the atmosphere as increasingly authoritarian. Jérôme Rodrigues, a figure from the 2018 gilets jaunes movement, said the government was afraid and pushing demonstrators away from places of power. He predicted further demonstrations every weekend. In Orléans, thousands marched against a congress of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, shouting slogans demanding Macron’s resignation and Le Pen’s imprisonment. Le Pen remains a frontrunner in next year’s presidential election, while Macron steps down in the same timeframe.