French police make nearly 1,000 arrests as protests turn violent nationwide

French riot police used tear gas, baton charges and water cannons as more than 400,000 people took part in mass protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s government for the second weekend in a row, Daily Mail reports.

Demonstrations took place in Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rennes and Marseille on Saturday, with a heavy security operation ensuring the latest round was less destructive than the previous weekend’s unrest, which saw about 2,500 arrests and roughly 2,000 shops and businesses looted. Even so, masked gangs and hard-left agitators attacked police and set fire to vehicles and bins in cities from Lille to Marseille.

Around 400 anarchists from the “black bloc” movement rampaged through Grenoble, while 63 arrests were made in Nice after youths burned cars and bins. In Rennes, police used a water cannon and armoured vehicles to push back 11,500 protesters, making 52 arrests, while around 15,000 demonstrators in Orleans attempted to disrupt the far-right National Rally’s annual congress. Nationwide, police made nearly 1,000 arrests, according to government officials.

In Paris, the march turned violent near Porte de Vincennes as masked youths hurled projectiles, including fireworks, at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon. The Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 410,000, including 110,000 in the capital. The Paris prosecutor’s office said 64 people, including six minors, were arrested in connection with Saturday’s protest.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez accused far-left activists and criminal gangs of deliberately fomenting violence, saying “high-risk groups” broke away from marches in nearly every city to commit acts of destruction.