High tension in France on the occasion of “act 3” of the student mobilization, which saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets. The day of protests was marked by moments of strong clashes with the police both in the capital and in Strasbourg.
In the French capital, the first tensions exploded at Place de la Nation, the arrival point of the procession that started from Place de la République. According to what was reported by Le Parisien, a group of demonstrators dressed in black, hooded and partly equipped with helmets and helmets, threw firecrackers, objects and smoke bombs at the police cordon, which responded with the launch of tear gas.
There is a wide gap on participation data: the Ministry of the Interior reports 256,000 demonstrators across France, of which 56,000 in Paris, while the unions estimate a much greater presence, speaking of 450,000 people nationwide and 100,000 in the capital alone.
Heated clashes were also recorded in Strasbourg. After an initially peaceful and well-attended march – in which delegations of left-wing MEPs also took part -, several hundred students attempted to move from the university area of rue du Maréchal Juin towards the city centre. Blocked by the riot control units of the national police with tear gas, the students erected barricades with bins and construction materials, throwing stones and objects at the officers. The police finally pushed the protesters into the university gardens without coming into direct contact with shields and truncheons. Also present at the tail end of the procession were La France Insoumise MEPs Emma Fourreau and Anthony Smith.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, also intervened on the matter with a post published on his social network Truth. The head of the White House expressed a very harsh condemnation, interpreting the French protests through a migratory and religious lens: «What is happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass immigration. It’s not a question of schools: it’s about Islam wanting to take over a once great country.”