French police use tear gas and water cannon as school protests spread nationwide
Police fired tear gas in Paris and Marseille and used water cannon in Rennes as protests over school funding spread; government and unions give different crowd figures.
Key facts
- Police fired tear gas in Paris and Marseille and used water cannon in Rennes on Tuesday, 6 October, according to NPR and the BBC.
- The Interior Ministry estimated 266,000 demonstrators nationwide, including 56,000 in Paris; student unions said 450,000, the BBC reported.
- The government said 891 high schools were disrupted on Tuesday; student unions said 1,800 were blockaded, the BBC reported.
- Nearly 500 people were detained on Tuesday, and more than 6,500 arrests, mostly of minors, were made over more than two weeks, NPR reported.
- Le Monde reported that 18-year-old student Soumaya Sarré, whose Instagram videos went viral, has inspired the protests.
Police fired tear gas in Paris and Marseille and used water cannon in Rennes on Tuesday, 6 October, as protests over school funding spread across France, according to NPR and the BBC. The Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people demonstrated nationwide, including 56,000 in Paris, NPR reported. Student unions put the number at 450,000, the BBC reported.
The government said there was disruption in 891 high schools on Tuesday, almost a quarter of all lycées (French high schools), while student unions said 1,800 were blockaded, according to the BBC. Nearly 500 people were detained on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said, according to NPR. NPR reported more than 6,500 arrests, mostly of minors, over more than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government and school leaders must listen to students' concerns and find solutions, NPR reported. He said that since the protests began, 215 students and 85 staff had been hurt, as well as 715 police officers, according to the BBC. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the police response had been proportionate in "almost all cases" and that the protests had at times turned into riots, NPR reported.
NPR reported that a 15-year-old boy lost a hand on Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade. The BBC reported widespread concern over allegations of "disproportionate force" by police, and that France's IGPN police inspectorate has been investigating a number of cases. Lecornu said any "accidents" would be investigated and described allegations that the police are racist as a "lie", NPR reported.
Le Monde reported that Soumaya Sarré, an 18-year-old student, has inspired the protests with Instagram videos that have gone viral. Le Monde reported that she won a public speaking competition and works with a group encouraging youth from working-class neighborhoods to get involved in politics.
The CGT, France's biggest union, said further protests involving school and university students are planned for Thursday, the BBC reported. Some student groups also called for new protests Thursday, NPR reported. President Emmanuel Macron was due to chair a meeting with ministers at the Élysée Palace on Tuesday evening to assess the situation, the BBC reported.
Context
The protests began in mid-September at a high school in the Paris region and have grown into a nationwide movement, according to NPR and the BBC. Students are demanding more resources for schools and what they call less repression from police, the BBC reported. NPR reported the movement has become a flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign.
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