Protesters set fire to buildings and cars in a new outbreak of violence at rallies across France over school quality and the cost of living, intensifying clashes that will shape national elections due within months.

Looters raided shops in Paris and violent protesters bombarded police at some of the gatherings, while authorities fired tear gas in the hope of dispersing the crowds.

French President Emmanuel Macron there was “no room for violence” in the republic and backed the police in trying to stop the violence while protecting the right to peaceful protest.

But the warnings from political leaders did not stop masked protesters torching property after an estimated 550,000 people joined the rallies across the country.

Protesters set fire to the town hall in Limoges, ransacked a government office in Bordeaux, looted stores in Lyon and vandalised civic buildings in Lille, according to statements from authorities. The local government in Limoges said the building was “largely lost” after the arson attack, with the roof collapsing onto lower floors.

The rally in Paris drew an estimated 110,000 people and was largely peaceful, but it turned violent when some protesters targeted police and ransacked stores.

The chaos included scenes in which masked protesters surrounded police vehicles and threw projectiles as the police sought to make their way past angry crowds.

Macron expressed “the support of the nation” to the law enforcement agencies.

“Those who have broken, attacked the prefectures as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished,” he said.

“We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who seek only to bring down our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s office said that about 550,000 people took part in rallies across the country, while 110,000 gathered in Paris. About 400 were arrested, the office said, and 60 law enforcement officers were injured.

Associated Press reporters in Paris saw thick black smoke rising from cars, bicycles and other vehicles, and bins on fire. A kiosk was set on fire, while several shops were looted.

Police tried to prevent other small groups of protesters from converging on government buildings, Nuñez’s office said.

Many metro stations in Paris were closed on Saturday following a police request, including those around the Champs-Elysees and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.

Meanwhile, the majority of peaceful protesters joined a march that moved toward north-western Paris. The crowd chanted France’s national anthem and waved flags, and some people played trumpets and violins.

Violence hit Lyon, Marseille and other cities

In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, where about 20,000 protesters joined the march, a fire broke out inside a tourist office.

In the southern port city of Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, while protesters briefly forced their way into the lobby of City Hall.

Nuñez’s office also reported violence by masked groups in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier and Grenoble, among other cities.

Sonia Mabrouk, 40, told Associated Press she came from a suburb west of Paris with her daughter, a high school student, to protest “everything that’s going wrong,” particularly the neglect of public services. Mabrouk, who took part in the yellow vest protests, criticised “policies that favour the rich and always hit the poorest people in their wallets.”

Many protesters could be seen wearing the fluorescent yellow vests that became a symbol of the 2018 rallies. “There’s a general sense of frustration and anger,” Mabrouk said, as she marched alongside peaceful demonstrators of all ages.

Saturday’s protests follow weeks of school blockades

Student groups protesting since mid-September through school blockades have urged supporters to join them.

The CGT, one of France’s major labour unions, also backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.”

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who backed the high school students’ movement, also took part in the Paris protest on Saturday.

The right-wing candidate for the presidency, Marine Le Pen, blamed the left for the violence and urged voters to wait until the elections due next year to elect her party, National Rally, and set a new direction.

“Loot, ransack, destroy, attack law enforcement: the rioters have once again poisoned the October 17 demonstrations in defence of purchasing power,” she said.

“Legitimate social demands have once again been held hostage by the far left and the speeches of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s deputies, who, by legitimising violence, viewing order as oppression and disorder as a right, seek to plunge the country into chaos.

“Faced with this incendiary strategy, the French people, who can no longer bear being caught between the austerity and fiscal hammering of those in power and the insurrectionary activists, must hold out for a few more months.”

With Associated Press

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