The student protest that has spread across France is now ‘out of control’, said the Paris police chief on Saturday (3), urging protesters to return to peaceful actions and warning that authorities would respond firmly to violence and vandalism.
The riot police clashed with high school students across France on Friday, and unions called on teachers to strike, while President Emmanuel Macron’s government struggled to contain increasingly violent protests against classroom conditions and funding.
Since Monday, about 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested nationwide and dozens were injured.
Agathe Foucault, the spokesperson for the national police, told RTL radio on Saturday that more than 600 police officers were also injured.
Teachers and citizens were attacked, while property damage is estimated at tens of millions of euros.
The Paris police chief, Patrice Faure, in an open letter published on X ahead of new protests planned for next Tuesday, stated that those who started the movement had already lost control and called on students to abandon school blockades and the disturbances in favor of peaceful forms of protest.
‘It is time to return to peaceful forms of action’, Faure wrote, adding that parents also have the responsibility to steer their children away from what he described as the influence of ‘professional protesters’ and their supporters.
Student unions have called for a national day of demonstrations for Tuesday. Security authorities fear that a protest organized in central Paris, in particular, could spark more violence, amid concerns that far-left anarchist groups might seize the movement.
The high school students blocking schools have expressed outrage at overcrowded classrooms, the constant lack of teachers, and deteriorating facilities, attributing blame to years of underinvestment.
(Reporting by John Irish)
