France Holds Fifth Straight Saturday of Protests as Turnout Falls to 106,000, Lowest in Weeks

France logged its fifth consecutive Saturday of nationwide protests on Nov. 14. The crowds were smaller than in recent weeks.

The interior ministry counted about 106,000 people nationwide, including 24,000 in Paris, the lowest turnout in recent weeks. Organisers put the figure at 200,000, with nearly 100,000 in the capital. A week earlier, authorities counted 146,000 nationwide and 46,000 in Paris.

The biggest turnout in recent weeks came on a union-led strike day, when official figures showed more than half a million people in the streets.

A movement with many grievances

France has been gripped by high-school blockades and cost-of-living demonstrations for more than a month. The protests now bring together students, education unions, Yellow Vest activists and child-protection campaigners.

In Paris, marchers gathered at Place de la République. Marius Mesnil, co-secretary-general of the Union Syndicale Lycéenne, listed the students' demands: "We're asking to have teachers when we go to class. We're asking to not have ceilings collapsing on us when we eat in the canteen."

Claire Bourdille, from a collective battling violence against children and teenagers, said: "Society's in bad shape. We can't focus on one cause more than another."

On wages, the government has promised a 0.6% minimum wage increase. The unions rejected it and called another strike day for Tuesday. Yellow Vest member Benjamin Ball summed up their view: "The government has only given us crumbs, and we want the whole bakery."

Karl Ghazi of the CGT union predicted before the march that Saturday might be different, with "real activist fatigue" after a month and a half of protests.

The police bill

The sharpest dispute is a bill that would give police officers a presumption of legitimate self-defence when they use their weapons. The lower house has approved it, and it is due to go before the Senate.

Supporters, including Marine Le Pen's National Rally, say it is needed so officers are not automatically suspected of using disproportionate force. Le Pen's party is currently the favourite in opinion polls for the presidential race.

Opponents call it a "licence to kill." They argue it would hamper the opening of investigations and make accountability harder in a country where alleged police brutality cases rarely reach a criminal court.

Lawyers last week denounced alleged police violence at recent protests that they said caused "mutilations," including hand, foot and eye injuries. Adrien, a 20-year-old cello player at the Paris rally, said of the bill: "We're scared when we come to a protest, and this will only make us even more afraid if their impunity is strengthened."

Violence at the edges

Most of Saturday's rallies were largely peaceful, but not all. Police fired tear gas in Paris, Bordeaux and Nantes, and clashes and tear gas were reported in several cities.

In Lyon, youths in masks and hoodies attacked a BFMTV news crew. Riot police intervened. The Rhône prefecture said the group was very violent and intended to lynch the journalists. A freelance journalist who witnessed it said one crew member was hit several times and that his camera was thrown to the ground, broken and stolen. The witness said he removed his own press badge to avoid the same treatment.

BFMTV management condemned the attacks. Prefect Étienne Guyot said: "Attacking media professionals as they carry out their work is unacceptable."

The prefecture also said a group of hostile individuals, at least some claiming allegiance to the far left, moved to the front of the Lyon march and threw numerous projectiles at officers, set fire to barricades and vandalised street furniture. The march was shut down early. Le Progrès put Lyon turnout at 8,000 to 15,000. Police had announced only four arrests, and it is unclear whether any were linked to the attack on the BFMTV crew.

Nationwide, 219 people had been arrested and 10 police officers injured as of 6 p.m. local time.

The security backdrop

The past two weeks have been tense. The Paris Police Prefecture refused numerous protest permit requests, citing October riots that led to thousands of arrests. It also prohibited a Yellow Vest rally planned for Place de la Concorde.

Ball and Yellow Vest spokesperson Azelma Sigaux were arrested at the Nov. 7 gathering, according to AFP. About 70,000 security forces were deployed nationwide that day. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told authorities "not to lower their guard."

President Emmanuel Macron has blamed the unrest on "ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic." In Limoges, the historic town hall was largely lost to fire during earlier rioting.

What comes next

The next test is Tuesday, when unions plan another day of strike action. It will show whether the movement can still draw the crowds of its peak, after the lowest Saturday turnout in recent weeks.

The unions' wage demands remain unmet. The government's offer stands at 0.6%.