In pictures: Protests spread to Italy
Inspired by the protest movement in France, a cost-of-living rally is also being held in Milan, in Italy today:
Photos: Piero Cruciatti, AFP
French police arrest 400 during protests
French police have arrested around 400 people during today’s protests, the interior minister said.
Some 550,000 people have protested in France, interior minister says
Around 550,000 people have taken part in today’s protests around France, the interior minister said.
French President Macron says ‘there is no place for violence’ in France
President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out about the unrest, saying there is “no room for violence” in France, vowing to bring the perpetrators behind the looting and the vandalism to justice.
“Those who have broken, attacked the prefectures as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished.”
Protesters force their way into town hall of Paris’s 10th arrondissement
Protesters have entered the town hall in Paris’s 10th arrondissement (district), leaving around 100 people who were attending a Pink October breast cancer awareness event trapped inside.
Windows have been smashed and smoke bombs set off. Alexandra Cordebard, the district mayor, has asked Paris police to evacuate the building.
Italian police clash with protesters in Milan
Italian police fired tear gas after coming under attack from protesters throwing stones and other objects in clashes in the square in front of Milan’s Gothic cathedral. According to several media outlets, the protest was inspired by the French demonstrations.
Police in riot gear also tried to clear hooded protesters from the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the luxury shopping arcade which is on one side of the cathedral square, as groups broke away from a protest over the high cost of living.
Shops pulled down their shutters and tourists fled the central area. The central Duomo (Cathedral) metro station was closed during the clashes in which several people were reported injured, and a number of arrests made, according to the Italian media reports.
Photos: Piero Cruciatti, AFP
Limoges town hall on fire
The town hall in Limoges, in central France, has been set on fire.
Paris mayor says ‘entire streets ravaged’ in protests
Paris’s Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said “extensive damage” has been done to the city. “Entire streets have been ravaged.”
Organisers say 800,000 have taken to streets
Organisers estimate that around 800,000 people have taken part in today’s protests across France.
‘Extensive use of tear gas’ at Paris rallies
French police have made “an extensive use of tear gas” during the protests in Paris, FRANCE 24’s Antonia Kerrigan said, adding that she had seen at least two fires while reporting from the demonstrations.
Watch her full report here:
Protesters ‘ransack’ Bordeaux prefect’s residence, officials say
The official residence of the prefect of Gironde has been “ransacked” during riots that broke out on the sidelines of the protests in Bordeaux. France’s elite RAID police unit was deployed to assist law enforcement officers to vacate the premises, a source told AFP.
“Individuals entered the residence and ransacked the premises,” a prefecture spokeswoman told AFP, while the prefect, Sophie Brocas, condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the damage caused to the residence and the looting of shops in Bordeaux’s city centre.
French PM blames violence during protests on the ultra-left
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is blaming the violence that has erupted during the protests on the ultra-left.
“Today, ultra-left groups orchestrated violence in several French cities, while criminals joined in to loot and destroy property,” he wrote in a post on X.
“To those who clearly want to use these acts of violence as a “warm-up” ahead of the presidential election, let me be clear: we will not be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence.”
Dozens of shops looted in Marseille
Dozens of shops have been looted in Marseille on the sidelines of the protest, AFP reported.
According to the news agency, several businesses – from food shops to luxury goods stores – have been attacked.
Marseille’s naval firefighters said they had been called to a sports shoe shop after a fire broke out inside.
Paris mayor condemns vandalism during protests
Paris’s Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire has condemned the vandalism that has plagued the protests in the city, saying the “vast majority” of the demonstrators are “marching peacefully”.
📸 Paris march in pictures
“Sick government, sick society,” the sign says.
“Macron big bastard,” the banner says.
“How to follow classes with one less eye?” the signs says, referring to police brutality.
Photos: Pauline Rouqette, FRANCE 24
Union says 500,000 turn out across France for cost-of-living protests
France’s biggest trade union, CGT, said more than 500,000 people have joined the nationwide protests.
Protester has hand blown off by police grenade in Saint-Étienne
In the southern city of Saint-Etienne, a male protester has had his hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, a police source told AFP.
His maiming comes after a 15-year-old lost his hand October 5 to a police stun grenade during another protest in the city of Lens.
‘France has equality problems,’ ‘and ‘politicians lie’, protesters say
“For years we’ve had climate, economy and equality problems but the government is not doing anything about it,” said Agnes, a 50-year-old actor who did not give her second name, as she marched in Paris.
High school student Kamil Alahyan, 18, said he was protesting “for so many reasons—the elections coming up in 2027, politicians who lie, the ultra-rich who’ve been taking more and more wealth over the past 10 years”.
This story originally appeared on France24
