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Buildings torched as cost of living protests spread across France

Police attempt to regain control with tear gas and baton charges as almost 300 arrested on Saturday



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRzetZswLYw?si=lffnS8VwsoTsbOjg

French protesters stormed and torched buildings in cities across France in chaotic demonstrations that sought to unite student protesters with a revived yellow vest movement on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people were estimated to have taken part in protests which spread through viral calls on social media and brought together diverse groups including students, farmers, trade unionists, climate activists and people angry about fuel prices and the cost of living.

Protesters burned down the Lyons tourism office, torched cars and built burning barricades on the streets of Paris and broke down the door of Marseilles city hall to storm the building, spraying graffiti and damaging furniture.

Mayor of Marseilles Benoit Payan said the situation was “out of control” and called for national authorities to intervene.


“There are young people who are 16, 17 years old. What’s going to happen this afternoon? They’re going to get tear gas grenades in the face because there are troublemakers in the middle of the marches,” Payan told journalists.

“We can’t lump protesters with legitimate demands together with these vandals – they’re morons, imbeciles, thugs ... I want them in prison, I want them brought to justice.”

Some protesters could be seen wearing the yellow reflective jackets that became the symbol of the gilets jaunes movement that ground France to a halt in 2018 with demonstrations initially triggered by fuel costs. “Macron is the vandal,” read one sign.

In some parts of Paris, young people could be seen marching peacefully and chanting the student protest slogan “we’re young, determined and revolutionary”.

Elsewhere in the city centre, protesters, dressed in black with their faces covered, torched parked cars and burned piles of electronic bicycles on the street, their batteries exploding and sending thick dark smoke rising in plumes over the city.

Police attempted to gain control using tear gas and baton charges, and by the afternoon there had been 272 arrests across the country.

French Republican Security Corps clash with protesters during a demonstration in Paris' Place de la Republique. Photograph: Getty
French Republican Security Corps clash with protesters during a demonstration in Paris' Place de la Republique. Photograph: Getty
Hard left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon blamed authorities in Paris for the disorder, saying they had been tear-gassing the demonstrators’ gathering point on Place de la République “relentlessly”.

The far-right National Rally blamed “Mélenchon’s far left” for the “disorder”.

“Working France, which is taking the full brunt of inflation and the cost of living crisis, is not in the streets today,” close Marine Le Pen ally Jordan Bardella wrote on social media.

“The real mobilisation of the French for purchasing power, for lowering taxes on fuel, for work that pays decently, will be the vote for Marine Le Pen in the presidential election.”

Before student protests gathered force in September, viral posts on social media had already called for a revival of the yellow vests movement and for demonstrations across France on October 17th.

The protesters came together after a week in which universities shut down and college students joined high schoolers in mass protests in major cities.

French president Emmanuel Macron appealed for “calm” and said police forces were facing “difficult times” and “extreme violence”, in a press conference on the eve of the protests in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of EU leaders.

“There is a constitutional right to demonstrate ... there is a responsibility that comes with it,” Macron said. “The problem is when they are disorganised and there are elements there solely to vandalise and cause chaos, and that‘s unacceptable.”

Protesters burn Israeli, US flags as student demonstrations sweep Italy


Thousands of students protested across Italy against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's policies, demanding more education funding and less military spending.

In Rome, demonstrators burned Israeli and US flags and called for a boycott of Israel

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators burned Israeli and U.S. flags Friday during a protest in Rome, the Italian capital. According to Italian media reports, thousands of demonstrators called for a boycott of Israel as part of student protests held under the banner "No Meloni Day."

"Money for schools, not war," chanted the protesters, whose numbers reached approximately 20,000, according to organizers. "Fewer weapons, more rights." The demonstrations focused on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government policies, particularly military spending and education rights. Protesters also voiced opposition to school reforms and restrictions on the number of foreign students in classrooms.

In the heart of Rome: Protesters burn Israeli and US flags


https://www.instagram.com/reel/DemfYFSiYx6/
In addition to burning flags, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, set fire to trash cans, overturned garbage bins and set off fireworks. They marched from the Colosseum through the city center to the Education Ministry in the Trastevere neighborhood.


The protesters denounced Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, saying: "He cannot bury his head in the sand and keep running away. The problems facing schools are enormous, the situation is dire and we want our voices heard now. The students' next step is a general strike on October 30."

The demonstration followed several tense days in Rome's schools, against the backdrop of protests in France and Spain in recent weeks. Among the issues raised by students were school conditions, inadequate funding and what they describe as the gradual erosion of the right to education.

According to Italian media reports, the movement is demanding greater investment in education and school buildings rather than increased military spending.

The protests were not limited to Rome. In Turin, demonstrators threw stones and eggs at police officers. In Verona, protesters set fire to trash cans and an electric scooter, while 20 minors were arrested on suspicion of throwing objects and blocking roads. Demonstrations were also held in Genoa, Venice, Padua, Treviso and Cagliari.
Education Minister Valditara described the demonstrations as "political hooliganism."
"What we are witnessing is not an expression of democratic dissent or a form of legitimate protest, but outright violence that has nothing to do with students' right to make their voices heard," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini issued an even sharper condemnation of the protesters: "These are not students. They are criminals and lawbreakers."
Meloni did not comment on the incidents.

PDPdestroyer:
The French people should vote out Tinubu and APC for causing them so much hardship

PDPdestroyer:
The French people should vote out Tinubu and APC for causing them so much hardship

Hopss:
Even if fuel cost 4000 naria in Nigeria, we can never protest. Nigerian na suffering and smiling.

brain54:
:::


Be like say no be only Nigeria dey experience the hardship.


But it be like say na only Nigeria people no dey protest the hardship.


Suffering and smiling 😁 as usual.

:::

badoh:
This thread is about France but you find a way to bring Nigeria into it. Some of you will never blame the man that caused the global rise in fuel prices due to starting unnecessary war with Iran. Thank God that no be only Nigeria deh feel the effect of this as it's a global issue, but what concerns destroying public properties, breaking into shops and setting fire on people's cars, which kind retard brain these people get as if they are still living in stone age.

Rayjay45:
These are the countries where Nigerians are dying for inside water to escape to o.

brain54:
:::


Be like say no be only Nigeria dey experience the hardship.


But it be like say na only Nigeria people no dey protest the hardship.


Suffering and smiling 😁 as usual.

:::

PDPdestroyer:
The French people should vote out Tinubu and APC for causing them so much hardship