French protests see water cannon and tear gas used in several cities
France is holding a second wave of nationwide protests on 24 October. The Paris march is peaceful, but police in several other cities have used tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators.
Nationwide protests are under way in France on 24 October, and the situation differs from city to city: the Paris march has so far been peaceful, while clashes with police have broken out elsewhere. The details were reported by French broadcaster BFMTV, as cited by the Ukrainian outlet Evropeiska Pravda.
The Paris march
The Paris police prefecture approved a new route, and objections from trade unions did not change it. The official route runs from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes, with the march taking place from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. According to the prefecture, 110,000 people are taking part.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left party La France Insoumise ("Unbowed France"), praised the participants' "excellent discipline" in a social media post and described the event as "the largest demonstration since the start of the movement". He joined the march himself.
Clashes in other cities
Peace was not kept everywhere. Special-purpose police units used tear gas against demonstrators in Lyon, Nice, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes. This came a few hours after Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned that no violence or disruption of public order would be tolerated.
In Lille, protesters threw various objects at officers, who responded with water cannon as well as tear gas. Water cannon were also used in Nantes, where looters also ransacked a jewellery shop.
As of 1 p.m., 135 people had been detained across France in connection with the protests.
Background
Nuñez said on Friday that 70,000 police officers, backed by specialised units, would be deployed to prevent a repeat of last week's violence. During the largest protests on 17 October, numerous cases of violence and looting were seen across the country. Saturday, 24 October, was scheduled as the second wave of "national mobilisation". In some cities, including Marseille, protests have been banned and public transport will be halted for a day over fears of unrest.
