Interior Minister Nuñez Orders 70,000 Police for Saturday Protests
Security forces will deploy helicopters and armored vehicles as demonstrations return to Paris a week after widespread looting.
By Chioma Kuznetsov ·
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced on Friday that up to 70,000 officers will be deployed across France for Saturday’s demonstrations. The mobilization includes helicopters, armored vehicles, and water cannons. This surge in security comes one week after unrest left shops looted and vehicles burned in several cities.
The government adjusted the Paris protest route on Friday to limit the march to the city’s southeastern edge. Demonstrators will now walk between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes instead of the planned path from Bastille to Nation. A few dozen gendarmes were posted beneath the Arc de Triomphe and along nearby avenues in central Paris on Friday. Officials expect a large crowd, following last week’s turnout of more than half a million people.
The movement began last month over staff shortages at a high school southeast of Paris. It has since expanded to include demands for more teachers, better school buildings, and additional university places. Unions are also pushing for higher wages and pensions to offset rising living costs. Student groups have proposed a 10-point plan that calls for 250,000 new higher education places and an end to the Parcoursup admissions system. They also seek a 200 euro monthly increase in student grants and a rent freeze in public housing.
Businesses and cultural venues have reacted to the expected unrest. The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Picasso Museum, and Grand Palais are closed for Saturday. The Grand Palais is currently hosting a major Cézanne exhibit. Art Basel opened to the public for a single day on Friday but cancelled its weekend program. Approximately 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted during last weekend’s protests.
Contractor Akram Ahmed, 34, was boarding up an optician’s shop near Saint-Lazare station in Paris. He said he received the call from the owner the previous night. Ahmed added that the owner told him he was saving his life. Shopkeepers have been barricading their stores all week in preparation for Saturday.
Local authorities banned marches in Lyon, Nice, and Montpellier, while allowing rallies in Paris and Marseille. French media reported that police used tear gas in Lyon on Saturday morning. Trade unions criticized these bans as violations of the constitutional right to freedom of expression. In Limoges, two suspects in the fire that nearly destroyed the 19th-century city hall were placed under formal investigation and held pending trial. The probe includes attempted murder of a public official.
President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, faces the crisis in the final stretch of his term. His popularity is at its lowest since he took office in 2017. Macron stated that the measures are needed to protect city centers, businesses, and public buildings. In Orléans, about 110 kilometers south of Paris, thousands gathered for an anti-far-right protest held alongside a congress of Marine Le Pen’s party. Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and teacher at Saint-Denis University, said money is now concentrated in the hands of very few people and that the current situation is not sustainable.
