Officers used tear gas as tensions flared sporadically in the neighborhood, with small groups of people trying to set bicycles and trash cans on fire.
Reportedly demonstrators answered calls from a labour union, student organizations, and activists hoping to revive the ‘yellow vest’ movement, which emerged in 2018 to protest against social injustice.
Nuñez further described troublemakers as ‘extremely violent, radical far-left groups’ whom, he said, sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and local government offices.
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Chaos erupted in Paris over the weekend as a result of protests that turned violent (Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Chaos erupted in Paris over the weekend as a result of protests that turned violent (Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The unrest started on Saturday, October 17 (Amaury Cornu / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
The unrest started on Saturday, October 17 (Amaury Cornu / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
The protests took place across both Saturday and Sunday and, on Sunday alone, there were 350 arrests in Paris, says BBC News.
Meanwhile, over the whole of France, more than 2,400 people were arrested as a result of the riots. As well as Paris, there were demonstrations in cities such as Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg, Grenoble, and Nice.
Speaking after this weekend’s chaos, Nuñez admitted that police ‘lost control’. Elsewhere French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed the public’s ‘anger’ and ‘shame’ over the nationwide protests.
