French police said on Sunday they had detained a record 855 people on Saturday for protest violence, amid nationwide demonstrations. Cars were set on fire and shops looted in Paris on Saturday as police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse violent demonstrators who joined protests against rising costs of living and in support of high school students’ grievances. Damage to public buildings. Protesters across France responded to calls on social media to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Protesters expressed widespread frustration and anger against the government as gasoline, energy and food prices have skyrocketed in recent months. Police fired tear gas and water cannon to push back people wearing hoods and masks and threw fireworks, cobblestones and other objects at officers in the Place de la République, northeast of Paris city center. A protester reacts to a burning vehicle during a demonstration to protest the “high cost of living” on the Place de la République in Paris on October 17, 2026. Kiran Ridley /AFP via Getty Images Associated Press reporters saw thick black smoke rising from burning cars, bicycles and other vehicles, and garbage bins. A kiosk also burned and several stores were looted. Several people were injured in the clashes. Police tried to prevent other small groups of protesters from converging on government buildings, Núñez’s office said. Many metro stations were closed on Saturday at the request of police, including those around the Champs-Elysees and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices. Meanwhile, mostly peaceful protesters joined a march that moved northwest of Paris. The crowd chanted the French national anthem and waved flags, and some people played trumpets and violins. The French Republican Security Corps stands guard during a demonstration to protest against the “high cost of living”, in Lille, northern France, on October 17, 2026. Sameer Al-Doumy /AFP via Getty Images Violence hit Lyon, Marseille and other cities. In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, where some 20,000 protesters joined the march, a fire broke out inside a tourist office. In the southwestern city of Limoges, the region’s top official said, masked protesters broke into and set fire to the city hall building, causing the spire to collapse in flames. “A savage horde” had “deliberately” set fire to the 143-year-old building, whose roof largely collapsed during Saturday’s protests, Maurice Barate, prefect of the Haute-Vienne department, told television channel LCI. “This is unacceptable,” Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan told BFM TV, describing the damage to City Hall as “limited.” Núñez’s office also reported violence by masked groups in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier and Grenoble, among other cities. Sonia Mabrouk, 40, said she came from a suburb west of Paris with her daughter, a high school student, to protest “everything that is going wrong,” particularly the abandonment of public services. Mabrouk, who participated in the yellow vest protests, criticized “policies that favor the rich and always harm the poorest.” Many protesters could be seen wearing the fluorescent yellow vests that became a symbol of the 2018 demonstrations. “There is a general sense of frustration and anger,” Mabrouk said, as he marched alongside peaceful protesters of all ages. Fire burns and destroys town hall after a group of people forced entry into the building during ongoing protests in Limoges, central France, on October 17, 2026. Pascal LACHENAUD /AFP via Getty Images Saturday’s protests follow weeks of school blockades. Student groups protesting through school blockades since mid-September have urged their supporters to join them. wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.” He said more than 500,000 protesters joined Saturday’s demonstrations. In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools burned down as the new school year turned into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country’s presidential election campaign and attracting international attention. Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who supported the high school student movement, also participated in the Paris protest on Saturday. Núñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against young protesters after a 15-year-old boy lost a hand More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
