A total of 108 law enforcement officers have been injured in altercations and clashes during May Day demonstrations in France. 291 arrests are reported.
These figures were given by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin in a brief appearance before the press. He insisted that “this violence must be condemned by the whole world.”
The vast majority of the 300 demonstrations called by the unions throughout the country have developed normally. But there have been incidents of violence in Nantes, Lyon, Angers and especially in Paris, where 19 injured policemen had been reported and where clashes continued late in the afternoon around the Place de la Nation.
The minister has said that he expects the perpetrators of the attacks against agents and properties to receive “firm sanctions”. The forces of order had deployed 12,000 agents throughout France today, 5,000 of them in Paris, where the clashes began early and worsened during the route from the Place de la République to the Nation.
Groups of protesters broke shop windows and banks, burned containers, furniture and even a building under construction near the Plaza de la Nación. The police used tear gas and pressurized water jets to disperse them.
According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, 782,000 people participated in the union parades throughout France, whose main objective was to protest against the pension reform, already promulgated, 112,000 in Paris.
For months Franca has been marked by this controversial reform, promoted by the government of President Macron.
