Nationwide demonstrations left 150 security personnel injured, one person dead and a historic town hall in Limoges severely damaged by fire.
French authorities reported 855 arrests in the Paris metropolitan area after nationwide protests on Saturday escalated into clashes, looting and property damage. One person died in Paris, while a fire severely damaged the historic town hall in Limoges.
RELATED: Demonstrations in Paris and Lyon Result in Significant Damage
The Paris Police Prefecture released the arrest figure on Sunday, covering cases recorded by 8 a.m. Investigations were continuing, including the review of video footage to identify additional suspects, authorities said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported 1,200 arrests nationwide as of 8 p.m. Saturday and said 150 police officers and gendarmes had been injured. A more recent national tally was not immediately available.
The demonstrations, organized by several groups including students, trade unions and former leaders of the Yellow Vests movement, drew 550,000 people nationwide, according to Nuñez. Organizers estimated attendance at more than 800,000.
Text Reads: Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed the number of people detained during the police crackdown on protests across various parts of the country.
The Ministry of the Interior reported that 550,000 people took part in demonstrations nationwide, 110,000 of them in Paris.
The demonstrations—which included students, “Yellow Vests,” and climate activists—were also met with a crackdown in Marseille, Nice, Lyon, and Lille.
Volunteer medics reported a disproportionate use of force, including the deployment of stun grenades, high-intensity sound devices, and pepper spray.
In Paris, 110,000 people took part in the scheduled march, according to the Interior Ministry. The demonstration began at Place de la République and proceeded without major incidents until its conclusion. However, the police prefecture reported that separate groups, including what it described as radical left-wing elements, attacked security forces and looted shops.
From mid-afternoon, several unscheduled marches involving hundreds of people, and in some cases more than 1,000, were accompanied by looting and vandalism. The damage was concentrated around Place de la République and also affected Boulevard de Sébastopol and Boulevard Saint-Honoré. Police said the situation had stabilized by around 11 p.m.
Thirteen members of the security forces and two firefighters were injured during operations in Paris. The police prefecture also reported that one person had died after suffering a cardiac arrest but provided no further details.
Damage remained visible in central Paris on Sunday morning, with shattered shop windows, broken glass scattered across streets and barricades made from bins, barriers, bicycles and street furniture.
Fire damages historic Limoges town hall
In Limoges, firefighters brought a major blaze at the city’s historic town hall under control on Sunday and were working to extinguish the remaining hotspots, Haute-Vienne Prefect Maurice Barate told French television channel LCI.
Authorities said several demonstrators had forced their way into the building on Saturday and deliberately started a fire inside. The flames spread to the upper floors and reached the roof, which subsequently collapsed.
Mayor Guillaume Guérin said the town hall had been almost completely destroyed but pledged that municipal services would continue operating despite the damage.
“They have destroyed a building that the people of Limoges love, but they have not destroyed the public service,” Guérin said. “A monument is burning, but not the Republic.”
Barate said around 5,000 people had taken part in the Limoges demonstration, including several hundred individuals he described as radicalized and extremely violent. After the attack on the town hall, some demonstrators moved toward the prefecture, while others looted businesses in the city center, he said.
The prefect condemned the attacks on public buildings and businesses, describing the fire as deliberate. Guérin expressed hope that those responsible would be arrested and argued that officers deployed during the protest had lacked sufficient resources to contain the violent participants.
Built between 1876 and 1883, Limoges town hall is a listed historic monument featuring architectural elements inspired by the late Renaissance and the reign of Louis XIII.
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